The Wyatt Mansion
by Breezi
Summary: Teens have been going missing in Clearwater, NC for years. After a recent disappearance, everyone's favorite brothers go to check it out.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note:** Okay, this is my first _Supernatural _fiction, not to mention the first time I have ever attempted to write anything even vaguely paranormal-like, so don't be too hard on the old gal. Do, however, tell me what you think. Feedback is greedily craved and greatly appreciated. That being said, I'll get on to the story! Thanks.

**The Wyatt Mansion**

**By: Breezi**

**Prologue: **

The dark night sky was cloudless and clear in Clearwater, North Carolina; stars shining and the three quarter moon brightly illuminating the treetops. The air was crisp and cold with wind enough to send chills all the way down to the bones. It was the perfect kind of night to be sitting inside, snuggled under a quilt beside a warm fire and reading a good book. But that's not what Tricia was doing. No. Tricia Parks was standing there beside her friends, Jason Woods and Bree Cose, flashlight in hand. They were all staring up at the boarded up mansion which had signs posted all through the yard designating that the property was off-limits to the general public; trying to build up the courage to go inside. Supposedly, the mansion was haunted and spending a few hours inside of it at night had become a sort of rite of passage for kids entering high school. So, here they were. Tricia tugged at the end of her light pink scarf and let out a shaky breath, trying to figure out if her shivering body was from the cold or the sight of the creep old house. She turned to Bree.

"Are you sure we have to do this?" she asked.

Bree let out a laugh, that kind of laugh that was the epitome of feminine and drove men crazy, then said, "Of course, we have to do it."

"Brad Fleor bragged that he and Tommy spent four hours in here last month. I say we go for the record setting five!" Jason chimed, pulling his baseball cap down further over his shaggy blond tuffs.

With a determined puff of air, Jason started climbing the chain linked fence that surrounded the house. The two slender brunettes followed his lead, whining about the physical exercise, then immediately locking arms as soon as their feet hit the ground. Without even the slightest hesitation, Jason leapt up onto the front porch.

"Okay," Tricia said, pulling Bree to a stop before she could set foot on the first step, "we're inside the fence. Do we really need to go into the actual house?"

"Awe, what's the matter, Trish?" Jason said, turning toward the girls and shining his light directly into Tricia's eyes, "Afraid a big bad ghost is gonna get you?"

"No." Tricia said quickly, backpedaling, trying to save face in front of her friends, "I'm afraid one of us is gonna go crashing through that floor and break our neck. Look at this place! It's condemned!"

"Quit being such a baby." Jason said with a wink.

"Shut up, Jason." Bree snapped, taking her friend by the shoulders and forcing her to look at her, "Listen to me, Tricia. We're gonna go in this nasty old house, hang out for a couple of hours, play some cards, shoot the shit, then, we're gonna go home and drink a hell of a lot of hot chocolate. Got it?"

"Got it." Tricia said.

"Okay." Bree grinned, "Now how about a smile for your best friend?"

Tricia smiled and wrapped her arms around Bree's neck.

"Hot chocolate? What are you, eight?" Jason said.

The two girls broke their embrace and turned to him, similar scowls on their faces. "No, jerk off! What are you, an ass?" Bree quipped, "Tell me again why we invited him."

"Because he's your boyfriend." Tricia supplied.

"Oh, yeah. What the hell was I thinking?"

"That he has cute dimples."

"Right." Bree said with a grin, "And the hair, too. He has good hair."

"It's true. Jason, you do have very good hair."

"All right, all right." Jason said, rolling his eyes, "Are we through with the Kodak moment so we can break into this damn place and get this over with. I'm freezing my ass off out here."

"What ass?" Tricia chuckled and Bree took her by the elbow and lead her up the steps of the front porch just as Jason shouldered his way in through the front door.

"Whoa!" Jason said from inside, "This place is seriously creepy."

Bree and Tricia came in behind him, each stepping lightly over the creaking floorboards. Tricia's comment of falling through the rotting floor was a very real possibility that they were all aware of. Tricia panned her light around the room that they had entered, which had apparently at one time been the foyer. Directly ahead of them was a winding staircase which lead up to the second story, a hallway beside the stairs that lead back to a door that was hanging off of its hinges, and pictures still hung, albeit crookedly on the walls. The three kids crowded into what was the living room, which still contained several pieces of broken furniture. Tricia and Bree were prepared to settle in and spend their five hours in that room, unwilling to venture any further into the old mansion than was absolutely necessary; but Jason seemed to have other plans as he continued to scan his surroundings with his flashlight.

"Come on, girls." He said, "Don't you want to explore a little?"

"Not even a fraction." Bree stated with a coy smile.

"Fine." Jason said, his face vanishing eerily into a shadow, "You scaredy-cats."

"Now who's eight?" Bree laughed.

"Just wait here. I'm gonna have a look around." He said, before disappearing around a corner.

Bree dropped Tricia's arm and took a few steps after him, "No, Jason, you big goon. Just stay here with us!"

Jason did his impression of a spooky ghost noise, earning a chuckle from Tricia. Bree cast a glance over her shoulder at Tricia and raised her eyebrows. "I'll be right back, kay?"

"God," Tricia said, "Can't you two go one hour without sneaking off to make out?"

Bree responded with a bright smile before bounding off around the same corner as Jason, leaving Tricia by herself in the old living room. She walked to the nearest wall and put her back against it, sliding down to a sitting position on the floor with her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. She really didn't want to be alone in this place. There were so many different stories circulating about how the place was haunted and whatnot, it just made her uncomfortable. Not to mention, it did nothing to shelter them from the cold. The only protection it offered was a shield from the wind, and the spooky old place had plenty of its own unexplainable breezes swirling around, so that didn't really count. Tricia leaned her face forward and rested her forehead on her knees, closing her eyes and trying to pretend that she was somewhere else; somewhere warm and safe; like the Bahamas.

Tricia's head snapped up, her eyelids flying open and her lungs sucking in an involuntary gasp of air. Her heart was beating so fast and hard that she was certain it was about to burst through her chest. She had thrown herself back into the wall, the back of her head smacking against its hard surface. She was wondering what it could have been that had given her such a fright when it occurred to her that she must have dozed off. Falling asleep in a place like that, no wonder she had had a nightmare. She wondered how much time had passed as she climbed to her feet, dusting herself off with her hands.

"Bree!" she called out, "Jason! Where are you guys?"

Hesitantly, she began making her way out of the living room and through the house. She wondered back through the hallway, crouching down to duck through the crooked unhinged door at the back of it. When she straightened, she found herself in a worn out kitchen. There was mold in the upper and lower corners of the room, cabinets with missing doors holding rows of jars with contents that Tricia had no desire to examine any closer. A door stood open at the far side of the room. Everything else in the kitchen was a tinted blue color from the moonlight shining in through the windows, but that doorway was like an opening into pitch black. She didn't know why, but Tricia felt that she needed to see what was encompassed in all that darkness. She crossed over to the door and peered through it, shining her light out in front of her. The doorway revealed a narrow staircase that lead down into the cellar. Tricia shuddered at the sight of the rickety old wooden stairs, hesitantly moving to step down onto the first one, but froze when she heard the faint and distant sound of a young female voice.

"If you guys are trying to lure me down there, I am so kicking your asses!" she called, retracting her foot from the entryway. Her flashlight flickered as the batteries started to die. "Perfect." She muttered, whacking it against the palm of her hand, "Come on, guys! My light's going dead!"

She heard shuffling behind her and rolled her eyes at her friends' piss poor attempt at sneaking up on her. She spun around with a grin. The smile quickly melted away as a scream curdled up from the bottom of her stomach, ripping from her throat with a painful agony.

And then, there was silence.

**Author's Note: **So, that's the beginning. Please, please, please, let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter One: Checking Things Out

**Disclaimer: **Since I managed to forget this part in the prologue, I'll go ahead and shock everyone by saying that I do not own Dean (damn it!) or Sam or anything having to do with _Supernatural_. I write this as purely a means of entertainment.

**Author's Note: **Thanks to both of you who reviewed! It really is highly appreciated. I hope you'll continue to read and let me know what you think. If I slip up somewhere, be sure to point it out to me. Anyways, on to the story!

**Chapter One: Checking Things Out**

With a loud grumble from the engine and a white puff of exhaust fumes, the '67 Chevrolet Impala screeched to a halt in front of the small town diner, Metallica blasting from the speakers. The turn of the key in the ignition killed the music along with the engine as the passenger and driver's side doors opened simultaneously. Dean Winchester twirled his keys around his the tip of his middle finger twice as he climbed out of the car. He licked his lips and scanned the buildings on the other side of the street, mentally taking note of each one as he stuffed the keys into the pocket of his well worn jeans. The hinges of the passenger door squeaked in protest of his brother, Sam, bumped it shut with his knee; all the while juggling a pad of paper and pen, an open newspaper, and the leather shoulder bag containing his laptop computer. He came around the front of the car, casting a single glance at the parking meter which Dean had blatantly ignored before going through the door that his brother was holding open for him.

Sam ignored several empty tables at the front of the diner, opting instead for a small booth in the far back corner that was somewhat secluded from the rest of the restaurant's customers. He spread his materials out across the tabletop and sat down. Dean slid into the seat across from him, pulling their father's journal out from the confines of his leather jacket and slapping it down on the table as well.

"So, what are we here for again?" Dean asked, leaning back casually and resting his arm over the back of the booth.

"Uh," Sam said, fumbling through the newspaper until he found the half page article that was circled in red marker, "Three teens disappeared a couple of weeks ago."

"Okay." Dean said, spreading one hand in a gesture for him to go on.

Sam grabbed the journal and flipped through it, "Remember I told you dad kept tabs on how many people disappeared from different counties. Well, this one has a pretty high rate, Clearwater in particular. Most of them ranging between the ages of fourteen and sixteen."

Dean leaned forward, bracing his elbows on the table, "Any other pattern besides age?"

"Not that I know of…" Sam replied, his eyes searching the journal, "but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's not there."

"Hi." A light voice broke into their conversation, drawing the brothers' attention.

They looked up at the young waitress. She smiled brightly down at them showing off a perfect row of straight white teeth. She was in her early twenties and pretty with a petite athletic build, full lips, a slightly upturned nose, and big blue eyes. She had the kind of white blonde hair that most girls outgrew at the age of five that hung down just past her shoulders. A short white apron was tied around her slender waist and she held a notepad in one hand and a pen poised to write in the other.

"How you boys doin'?" she asked.

"Just fine." Sam said on top of a polite smile.

Dean's gaze traveled the length of her, unable to avoid pausing to admire the expanse of skin revealed by the low cut neckline of her tight fitting maroon long sleeved shirt, before finally coming to rest on her eyes. He cocked one side of his pretty mouth upwards in a smirk.

"Can I get you something to drink?" she offered, giving him a sideways look.

"Yeah, can I get a beer?" Dean responded.

"Uh, we don't start serving alcohol 'til after five." She said offering an apologetic smile.

Dean raised his eyebrows incredulously and opened his mouth to respond, but Sam cut him off, "That's fine. We'll just take a couple of cokes. Thanks."

"All right." She chirped. Her eyes lingered on the two of them for a just a beat too long before she walked away from the table to get their drinks.

"No alcohol before five, what the hell…" Dean muttered under his breath.

"I bet," Sam said, ignoring his brother's whining and flipping open his computer, "if we do some digging, we'll be able to find some link between the victims other than their age."

"Just explain to me again why you think that this is our kind of deal as opposed to a simple kidnapping or good old fashioned teen angst runaway. I hear that's coming back, you know." Dean said.

"Statistics. Location." Sam rattled off, "Gut instinct."

Dean smiled at the last one. "Good enough for me."

The blonde waitress reappeared and set down two tall hard plastic glasses of soda, pulling a couple of straws from the pocket of her apron and dropping them onto the table as well. She stood with her hands on her hips staring down at them for a moment, a thoughtful look on her face. Then, she quickly plastered on another smile, "You boys know what you want?"

"I think we're just gonna have some cheeseburgers and fries." Dean answered, accompanied by a nod from Sam who had yet to look up from his computer screen.

"Okay," the waitress said, scribbling on her notepad, "Anything else?"

They each shook their head 'no' and the girl walked away again, casting several glances over her shoulder at them as she went. Dean watched her walk away, mentally taking note of the snug fit of her jeans before turning his full attention back to Sam.

"Well, so far, the three that disappeared most recently were all friends. They all attended the same high school. They were last seen by Marisole Parks, one of the victims' mother." Sam said.

"Did she say where they were going?"

"It doesn't say in the paper…but, that doesn't mean anything." Sam said, looking up from the computer screen finally.

"All right." Dean nodded thoughtfully, "Different focus. What do we know about the immediate area?"

"Well," Sam started, punching a few keys and looking once again to the screen, "there's really not much to go on until we know the details of the incident. I mean, there's a pretty large area of forest around here so we could be looking at a black dog. Any number of creatures, really."

"As long as it's not another wendigo." Dean interrupted.

"We have no idea what these kids were up to. They could be part of some cult summoning up the dead or they could have been snatched up by a werewolf. We just don't know." Sam continued.

"Werewolf?" Dean said, his eyes darting upward as if he were trying to look into his own mind, "Oh, God. It is the full moon! How could I forget about that? We need to start keeping some silver bullets on us just in case we happen to come across one. You never know where those sons of bitches are gonna pop up."

"I was being glib. It's not a werewolf." Sam stated matter-o-factly.

"How do you figure?"

"The other missing case files, the disappearances don't always coincide with the right lunar cycle."

"Okay." Dean conceded, "Still, better safe than sorry, one of us should keep some silver bullets on us at all times."

"All right." Sam nodded, clicking a few more buttons on the computer, "There is something here about this supposedly being home to a haunted mansion."

"Haunted mansion? Isn't that a ride at Disney World?"

Sam chuckled, but didn't look away from what he was typing.

The waitress appeared again, carrying their food. She set a plate down in front of each of them and wiped her palms on her apron. "Everything look okay? Can I get you some more coke? Extra mustard?"

"It looks great. What, uh, I'm sorry, what did you say your name is?" Sam asked, closing his laptop.

"I didn't." She smiled, "But, it's Dani."

"Dani. Hi. I'm Sam."

"Hi." Dani said, her eyes darting back and forth between the two men.

"Uh, are you from here?" Sam went on.

"No, actually." Dani answered with a smirk, "I just moved here a couple of months ago."

"Oh, okay." He said disappointed, turning to his burger.

"I know my way around pretty well, though. So if you need directions or something like that…"

"No, no. That's okay. Thanks." Sam said.

"All right." She said, raising one eyebrow skeptically. She cast a lingering look at Dean before starting to walk away from their table, "Just let me know if you need anything else."

"Okay, let's eat. Then, we'll see what we can find out about this haunted house." Dean said before popping a French fry into his mouth.

Halfway through his meal, Dean's eyes inadvertently caught sight of the pretty little blonde waitress walking towards a table she had just cleared off, dishrag in hand. He saw the medium built guy about his age wearing dirty work pants and a grungy long sleeved tee shirt, his jet black hair hanging in his eyes just as he came charging up behind her and grabbed her by the arm. He rubbed his hands together, dusting the crumbs off as his leg muscles tensed, preparing to launch his body to the girl's defense should the need arise. Sam noticed his brother's distraction and peered over his shoulder to see what had caught his attention. Just like that, both boys were readying themselves should something happen. Neither of them had ever been able to resist a damsel in distress.

"Let me go, Eddie." Dani said, her voice dripping with venom.

"Not until you talk to me, damn it." Eddie spat.

"I am at work! And besides, I've said everything I needed to say."

"Well, I haven't!"

Dani jerked her elbow out of his grasp and bodily shoved him away from her. "Leave me alone! Get out of here!"

Dean and Sam watched Eddie stumble back a few steps and with a final threatening glare at the young waitress, he turned around and stormed out of the diner. Dani turned with her profile to the brothers and they watched her wipe a tear from her cheek and let out a deep breath as she tried to collect herself.

"Tough cookie." Dean said.

Sam turned back around in his chair, "No kidding."

Dani licked her lips, composed herself, and strolled over to their table, plastering a tight smile on her face. "Everything all right over here?" she asked, her voice just as bright as it had been when she had first approached them. They had to give her credit for one thing; she was pretty damn good at hiding her emotions.

"We're good." Sam replied with a tender look.

"How 'bout you?" Dean asked, one eyebrow cocked.

The question seemed to startle her and she cast him a sharp look. "I'm fine." She said, but her voice caught the slightest bit at the back of her throat, "exes, you know. Can I get you guys anything else?"

"Nah," Sam smiled, "just the check. Thanks, Dani."

She pulled a handwritten tab out of her apron pocket and set it on the edge of the table, giving them another smile; though it didn't reach her eyes. After polishing off what was left of their burgers, the boys gathered up their stuff and headed for the front counter to pay. Dean smirked as Dani came trotting up to the register.

"Was everything okay?" she asked, more out of habit than anything else. Hell, she had pretty much already asked them about five times if their food had been 'okay'.

"Yeah. It was great." Dean said, pulling a credit card for one Herbert Thurston from his wallet and holding it out to her.

The blonde reached for the card, the tips of her fingers brushing against his. Her bright blue eyes darted up to meet his at the sudden contact, a haunted look glazing over them and her smile went suddenly slack. Dean's eyebrows drew together as he studied her unexpected change in demeanor at the same time Sam took a step closer as well. Dani slowly retracted the card from his hand and blinked twice, the happy go lucky expression returning to her face. Without another word, she swiped the card and handed it back to him, grinning as though the off moment had never happened.

Still shaking off the weird feeling from the look that the pretty waitress had given him, Dean left the diner at a fast paced walk. He ran a hand back through his hair and looked over his shoulder at Sam, "What say we head over to that one girl's house, Sammy? What was her name? Marisole?"

"Maricole Parks." Sam supplied.

"Let's find out where those kids were headed."

A ten minute drive later, they came to a stop in front of a white two story house in the middle of a friendly little suburb. The black Impala didn't exactly blend in with the barrage of four door sedans that seemed to reside in every other one of the driveways of the neighborhood. Dean groaned as he took in his surroundings while he and Sam climbed the porch steps to the front door of the house. This was his idea of hell. The two of them stood there, shifting their weight from leg to leg in attempt to keep warm as Sam rang the doorbell.

It took a moment before they heard the locks on the inside of the door unlocking and it cracked inward a little. A pair of eyes peered out at them from the slit between the door and the frame.

"Yes?" a weak voice came from behind the crack.

"Mrs. Parks?" Dean asked, narrowing his eyes and leaning forward slightly trying to get a better look at the person.

"Yes." Came the reply.

"Mrs. Parks, I'm special agent Brock and this is my partner agent Hudson. We'd like to talk to you for a minute if it's not too much trouble." He said.

The door opened a little further to reveal a woman of slight build standing there in a tee shirt, sweat pants, and a long white bathrobe. Her dark hair was laced with gray, there were worry lines etched deep in her face, and her eyes were red and puffy as though she hadn't slept in a few days. She stepped aside and gestured for them to come in, shutting the door behind them once they had.

"I'm sorry if I seem a little weary." She said, walking past them into a comfortable looking living room and sitting down on a large dark red sofa, "I feel like I've been doing nothing but answering questions for the past two weeks."

"We know you've been through a lot, Ma'am." Sam said.

"You know the worst part?" Marisole went on, lighting a cigarette and taking a long pull of it, "Nobody will tell me anything. I don't know if they have any leads, any suspects, anything. It's killing me."

"I can't imagine what you must be feeling right now." Sam tacked on, his tone comforting and sympathetic.

"I don't suppose you can tell me anything." She said, looking up at them both hopefully.

"We're really just now familiarizing ourselves with the case." Dean explained, "We've just arrived on the scene."

"I see."

Sam thought that he could actually see the last of her hope draining from her body and his heart ached for her. The poor woman had lost her daughter, and she didn't even know what had happened to her. There was no way to grieve or find closure when you didn't know whether or not your child was still out there somewhere just waiting for you to come and find them.

"Can you tell us the last time you say…" Dean stammered, looking to Sam for help, who in turn pointed to a note that he had made, "Tricia? Can you tell us when you last saw Tricia?"

"I've already been over this a dozen times." Marisole said, flicking the ashes off the end of her cigarette as her face tightened. She looked like she might very well burst into tears at any moment.

"We know, Mrs. Parks." Sam said, "And we're sorry to drag you through it again, but, it helps to hear it from you rather than to read it in come case file."

She nodded, licking her lips and taking a shaky breath, "It was two Fridays ago at about five p.m. It had just started to get dark outside. It gets dark so early in the winter…" her voice trailed slightly as her mind wandered.

"Do you know where she was going?" Dean asked, bringing her back.

"Oh, yes." She said, "It's so silly. She was going to the old Wyatt house."

"The Wyatt house?" Dean asked, sharing a knowing look with his brother.

"Yes. It's this creepy old mansion on the edge of town. I told her it was dangerous, that place is practically falling apart. But, it's a standing tradition." She gave a bitter laugh, "I did it myself when I was sixteen."

"Did what?" Sam asked.

"Went and spent a few hours there at night. The legend is that the place is haunted by old man Wyatt, so when the kids get to high school, they go and spend an hour or two there after dark. It's kind of an initiation type of thing. I told this to the local police because I was scared that maybe she had fallen through the floor or something, but they searched that house high and low and couldn't find any trace of her or the others."

Sam nodded his head, "Well, thank you for your time, Mrs. Parks. We'll be in touch as soon as we know anything. We can see ourselves out."

"Looks like it's the mansion, after all." Dean said as Sam closed the door, "We should see what we can learn about this guy Wyatt."

"Yeah," Sam agreed, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets, "Let's swing by the public library and see what we can dig up."

After nearly two hours of reading old newspapers and digging through local history anthologies, the boys didn't know anything more than that the chairs in the library were absolute hell on your back. Dean stretched his arms up over his head and arched his back, grunting when he heard and felt a satisfying crack. "Is it me or is this Thatcher Wyatt guy as squeaky clean as he seems?" he hissed.

Sam pulled the pen that he had been chewing on from his lips, "He had a wife and three daughters and died of old age. He doesn't fit the profile for an angry spirit."

"He didn't even die in that house." Dean added, "It says here that he died in 1906 at his house in the English countryside."

"What about his wife?"

"Same."

"His daughters?" Sam speculated.

"That's the only weird thing I've found so far."

"What?"

"I can't find anything about them. I mean, I found copies of their birth certificates, but that's it. No death certificates, no marriage records, no nothing."

"Yeah, ditto. Elizabeth, Katherine, and Lilian. Other than that, I've got nil."

"Okay," Dean said, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his large hands over his face, "So, we assume that it's the little brats that are still running around reeking havoc on the poor town folk."

"Works for me." Sam resigned, "What else do we have to go on?"

"Let's go play."

No sooner had the words left Dean's mouth than the boys had sprang to their feet and were hustling out of the library, reveling in the feeling of having blood circulating through their legs once again. With _Highway to Hell_ blaring from the speakers, Dean guided the Impala along the broken pavement of a single lane road that had been longtime neglected by the county. They reached the Wyatt mansion and slowed to a crawl as they passed it, both of them craning their necks to take in the sight. Falling apart was a drastic understatement. The old two story mansion was more or less warped into a crooked shape.

"This looks like fun." Dean said dryly.

He pulled the car off the road and out of sight to anyone who might happen to pass by, though that actually occurring seemed highly unlikely. They popped the trunk and checked their weapons as Dean formulated a strategy.

"All right," he said, "we'll sweep the interior and maybe catch a glimpse of this bad boy…or girl…then we'll search the outside grounds to see if we can't find a grave or two and torch it."

"Or them." Sam added.

"Semantics, college boy."

Sam nodded with a light laugh rolling deep from inside his throat as he cocked his shotgun. Dean did the same and they both reached up and slammed the trunk closed. Their eyes alert and darting back and forth, the Winchester brothers trudged toward the house. They hopped the fence and made their way up the porch. One rotted step broke under Sam's foot and he fell through, stumbling backwards. Dean spun and quickly caught him by the front of his shirt. He righted him on his feet and they both took the remaining steps as quickly as possible.

Dean tapped the door with the toe of his boot and it swung inward with ease. Each holding their respective flashlight ahead of them, they flooded into the house, scanning the foyer in one fluid motion. Dean pulled the small EMF meter from his pocket and flipped it on, the tiny red lights at the top immediately blazing to life.

"Well, if that's any indicator…" he muttered.

"I take downstairs, you take upstairs?" Sam suggested.

"I say we flip a coin." Dean replied.

"What?"

"I don't wanna fall through the damn floor."

"I already fell through the stairs."

"See, you're used to it."

"Oh, fine!" Sam finally hissed, "I'll take the upstairs."

Dean chuckled as Sam slowly crept up the stairs to the second level, then resumed his search of the first floor, tucking the meter back into the pocket of his coat. He ducked beneath a door at the end of the hallway that was hanging diagonally off of its hinges and found himself in what had at one time been a kitchen. He took in the gritty disarray of the room until his gaze landed on a dark narrow doorway. He wanted to see inside of that doorway. No. He _needed _to see through that doorway. He couldn't explain it; it was almost like he was being drawn to it. He crossed over to it, holding his flashlight out in front of him as far as he could, trying to peer through the door without having to get too close. He paused when he heard a faint shuffling behind him.

With a calming breath, he spun around and took aim with his shotgun.

A tiny squeak escaped her throat as Dani threw her hands up and froze where she stood. "Hi." She said, her voice trembling.

"What the hell?" Dean growled, lowering his gun.

"Dani," she said, pointing to herself, "Remember me?"

"Yeah, I remember you. What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Funny you should ask…"Dani started, lowering her hands and taking a step toward him.

"You shouldn't be here." Dean hissed.

"Trust me, honey, I don't want to be here."

"No, you know what? I don't care. Whatever dare it is that you're trying to do, forget it and get out of here." Dean said, his eyes boring into hers.

Dani looked down and her brow furrowed for an instant, before her gaze shot back up and locked with his. "That's a great idea, I think. But you know an even better one?" she reached out and twisted her hands into the soft leather of his worn in coat, jerking him closer to her, "You come with me."

"Come with you?" Dean repeated, his own brows drawing together in confusion.

"Yeah, uh-huh." Her eyes once again began searching the room, "Your brother, too. Where is he?"

"Wait, how did you know he was my…" he stopped talking when he heard another faint sound. His flashlight flickered on and off, sending another surge of adrenaline coursing through his body.

Dani's eyes were rapidly darting from side to side like she was reading something in her mind. Her hands slowly relinquished their grip on his jacket. Dean spotted it appearing and on reflex swung his shotgun up, his instinct first and foremost to protect the girl who had stumbled into his care. At the same time he was lifting his gun, Dani reached around behind her and dropped down, twisting her body so that her back was to Dean. Their shots rand out at the same time and the apparition disappeared before it had fully formed.

Dean looked down and saw the small handgun that the waitress held in her hand. With a growl, he reached down and jerked it out of her hand, tossing it aside. As soon as the weapon left her hand, Dani swung around and swept his feet out from under him with her outstretched leg. He hit the ground and she was instantly on top of him, straddling his narrow hips. She punched him in the jaw with a tiny balled up fist and reared back to do it again, but Dean blocked the blow with his forearm.

"What the hell is the matter with you, woman?" he bellowed from beneath her. Sometimes he wished he weren't so adamantly opposed to giving members of the fairer sex a nice smack in the mouth.

On the sound of thundering footsteps, Sam came charging into the room, his shotgun poised and ready to fire. When he spotted Dean, he lowered his gun and stood there in a kind of shock for a moment. He thought he had seen damn near everything. Dean grabbed Dani by her hips and flipped her so that she was the one on the flat of her back and he was on his knees between her legs, fighting to pin her arms down as she continued to swat at him.

Sam snapped out of his daze and raised his gun again, cocking it to get the others' attention. They both stopped struggling and looked over at him. Dean smiled and pushed himself to his feet while Dani stayed exactly where she was.

"Hiya, Sammy." Dean smirked, walking over to the handgun that he had stripped from Dani.

"You wanna tell me what's going on?" Sam asked, keeping his gun trained on the young girl.

"Trying to figure that one out myself." Dean said, flipping open the chamber of Dani's gun, "Ask her."

"Look, I just came to find you two…" Dani started.

"Why?" Sam asked, "And, how did you even know we would be here?"

"Holy shit." Dean gasped.

"What is it?" Sam enquired.

"Her gun…" Dean stuttered, his eyes snapping up to look into Dani's again, "it's loaded with rock salt."

**Author's Note: **Okay, I don't want to give anything away but at the same time I don't want any misconceptions, so I'm going to go ahead and tell you that Dani is not another ghost hunter. I'll get into who she is in the next chapter, but I just wanted to clarify that. Well, that's it for now. Please, please review and let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter Two: Questions

**Author's Note: **Okay, well, here's chapter two. Thanks to you guys who reviewed, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Don't stop! Please let me know if you think I'm slipping anywhere or just your thoughts in general. I'll stop blathering now and let you read...

**Chapter Two: Questions**

"What?" Sam exclaimed.

"You heard me." Dean said, striding toward where Dani had raised herself to her knees.

"Rock salt in a handgun? Is that even possible?" Sam bellowed.

"Who are you?" Dean demanded, towering over the small blonde.

"Listen…" she started.

Dean reached down and grabbed her by her upper arms, jerking her to her feet in one swift motion. "Who are you?"

Dani looked up at him, as the height difference still gave him a considerable advantage over her. He had to be 6'1 at least and she stood at a mere 5'3. She felt like a midget. His grip on her made her arms her; she was certain that she would have a nasty set of bruises in the morning to remind her of this lovely meeting. The thought made her groan inwardly; like she hadn't been manhandled enough in her life. She took a shaky breath and looked into his amazing hazel eyes, "Please, just get me out of this house and I will tell you everything."

Her eyes pleaded with him, so wide and afraid. They told him that at the moment, she really did want to get out of that house and he was still enveloped with the need to protect the damsel.

"Fine." He said curtly and let go of her.

He tucked her gun into the back of his waistband, then bent over and grabbed his shotgun. When he straightened again, he snatched hold of her elbow in a tight grip and all but dragged her through the house with Sam hot at his heels.

"What did you shoot at?" Sam asked.

"A spirit." Dean and Dani said together. Dean shot Dani a look and she decided that it would be in her best interest to keep her mouth shut for the time being.

"Well, was it one of the girls?" Sam asked.

"No." Dean answered.

"No?" Sam repeated.

"No."

"Then…"

"Sam!" Dean warned, "Later."

The three of them more or less leapt off of the porch and Dean hauled Dani across the yard, holding her in place while Sam climbed the fence then he let go of her arm so she could do the same. Once she was on the other side, she held out her hand to Sam. He looked down at it, then back up to her in confusion.

"Apparently, I might run away." She said with a shrug.

Sam chuckled, but quickly turned the laughter into a throat clearing cough when Dean's feet hit the ground beside him.

"Keep moving." The older Winchester said, taking hold of Dani's outstretched hand and leading her toward where they had left the car, "Where's your car?"

"I don't have one." She answered.

"Then how did you get here?" Dean demanded.

"My manager dropped me at the end of the street and I walked the rest of the way. You're hurting my wrist."

Dean's response was to tighten his hold on her already aching wrist and give her arm a nice, hard jerk so that she stumbled over her own feet in her attempts to keep up with his long legged strides. She changed her pace to a quick jog, trying to avoid tempting him to induce any more pain as he dragged her toward his car. When they were a few steps away, Dean practically slung her out in front of him so that she slammed into the side of the Impala with a resounding _thump_.

The two brothers loaded the guns, including hers, into the trunk and then Dean proceeded to shove Dani, none too gently, into the backseat. She straightened herself in the seat and tugged at her heavy black pea coat as Dean and Sam slid into the front of the car. Dean started the engine and then wordlessly, shifted into reverse. Once they were on the road, he slammed the shifter angrily into first and the Impala lurched forward.

As she watched the house retreat into the distance, Dani felt herself breathe again. She let her mind wander to the two young men in front of her. There was Sam, who had been so polite to her earlier at the diner. He may have been taller, and boy was he tall, but he was obviously the younger of the two. He could have easily blended in with the gaggle of college kids home for winter break in his hooded sweatshirt worn under a dark blue jacket and faded jeans. With his big brown eyes that gave away his kindness and shaggy brown hair, he had the look of a big, overgrown, innocent puppy. There was a sweet look to him; something that made her want to give him a hug.

Then, there was Dean, who had yet to actually introduce himself, but she knew that that was his name. Quite the opposite of his brother, he had a rugged look about him; something that could almost be described as battle hardened. His dark jeans were washing machine faded and riddled with holes and especially worn out around the knees, the black tee shirt her wore underneath the brown leather had seen better days; and a charm around his neck that she suspected he rarely took off, if ever that is. His dark blond hair was carelessly tasseled and messy and sticking up in several places. He had eyes that were a brilliant hazel green and flashed with flecks of gold when he got angry, as she had just learned. His lips were full and seemed ever eager to draw into a smirk that could probably bring women anywhere to their knees. And, again unlike his brother, there was nothing even remotely innocent about him.

Dani tore her gaze away from the enigmatic duo and instead let herself examine the worn out leather interior of the muscle car that she was being chauffeured in. She stifled a groan in the back of her throat. How had she let herself get into this mess? She really should have known better, but thinking ahead and doing the logical thing had never really been her strong suit. The steady thumping and droning bass line of some esoteric heavy metal was pounding out from the speakers and she suppressed the urge to cover her ears and scream out the words 'what the hell are we listening to'. Something in her stomach told her that it was Dean's choice of music, though she doubted that Sam had put up much of a debate. Even though she had just met them, she had the feeling that this music was what they had chosen as their own personal soundtrack to their lives. It was all power and adrenaline fused with lyrics that appeared shallow on the surface, until you really took a look at them to find the depth of the meaning buried within the subtext. It suited them, but only in that more than perfect way.

She cleared her throat and finally managed to get her voice to work, "If you take the next right, we can go to my apartment."

Dean gave her a pointed look via the rearview mirror, but made the turn nonetheless. Dani turned her face down to her lap so that neither of them would be able to see the smile that spread across her face.

"It's the third complex on the left." She informed.

Dean steered the car into the parking lot of her building and eased into a space between a Chrysler convertible and a big brown Ford van. The three of them piled out of the car. Dani shut her door and looked ahead, only to meet with a steady hazel gaze from Dean.

"Lead the way." He said.

She stepped toward him and turned sideways in attempt to slide past him, trying to touch him a little as possible. The contact that she did make with his solid form made her blush and she had to avert her eyes or he would have been able to see right through her. The boys followed her up three flights of stairs to her floor where she dug her keys out of the brown leather shoulder bag she carried and opened her door.

"Make yourselves comfortable." She muttered incredulously as she crossed through her living room and into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

"Hey!" Dean called.

"I'm coming back." She shouted in response.

She could hear him mumbling something to Sam, but chose to ignore it. With a sigh, Dani peeled off her coat and bag and kicked off her sneakers. She took another moment to collect herself before returning to the firing squad that awaited her in the living room. The guys had apparently taken her at her word.

Sam sat in the fluffy white chair near the door and Dean had draped himself over the matching sofa, his boot clad feet propped up on her oak coffee table. They had both shed their coats and she saw for the first time the gray flannel button up shirt that hung open over Dean's tattered black tee shirt, the long sleeves rolled up to just beneath his elbows. They both looked over at her when she came out of the bedroom.

She crossed her arms over her chest and fixed Dean with a cool glare, "Get your nasty ass boots off of my grandmother's coffee table."

Dean pursed his lips together and narrowed his eyes, but lowered his feet. Sam stifled his laughter with the palm of his hand. Dani maneuvered into the living room and sat down at the opposite end of the couch.

"So, what did you want to ask me?" she offered.

"First of all, you said you were looking for us," Sam started, "how did you know we were going to be at the Wyatt house?"

"And how did you come up with a handgun that shoots rock salt?" Dean added.

"Well, as for the gun," a bittersweet memory flashed through her mind, "it was a gift from a friend. The other answer is a bit more complicated."

"We're listening." Dean said.

"I can…sense…things." She said, struggling to find the right words, "Sometimes, when I touch someone or something, I can see things about them."

"Like a psychic?" Sam asked sharing a look with Dean.

Dani nodded, though she had always been uncomfortable with that label, "Yeah, I guess." She turned her focus sharply to Dean, "I touched you in the diner and I saw the two of you in that house."

"So, what?" Dean blurted, "You wanted to come and join in on the fun?"

"No!" Dani spat a little too vehemently, "That place…it's…it's not safe. It is not a good place."

"We know." Dean countered.

Sam nodded in agreement with his brother, "Yeah, that's, uh, that's kind of why we were there."

"How did you know that we're brothers?" Dean asked.

"I just knew." She said with a shrug, "When I was taking your order, I just felt it. You're Sam, you're Dean, you're brothers. I just know."

"That was a nice leg sweep back at the Wyatt place." Dean commented dryly, "Where's you pick that up?"

"A friend." Dani said, meeting his unwavering stare with one of her own.

"The same friend who gave you the gun?" Sam asked.

Dani nodded, rubbing her eyes with the tips of her fingers, then shoving both hands back through her hair. She pushed herself up from the couch and walked into the kitchen.

"Do you guys want some coffee or tea or anything?" she asked.

"Coffee would be great." Dean sighed, letting his head fall back onto the back of the couch.

"Yeah, thank you." Sam said, sagging a little further down into his chair, "So, you're a psychic?"

Dani let out a groan as she poured some water into her coffeemaker. "I hate being called a psychic."

"Sorry," Sam chuckled, "What do you prefer to be called?"

"Dani."

"Okay, Dani. But, you can…"

"Yes. I can feel things." Dani cut his question off with the answer.

"So, what do you know about the Wyatt house?" Sam went on.

"I know enough to stay the hell away from it." She replied.

"How?" Dean asked, craning his neck to look over his shoulder at her.

"When I first got to town, some of the girls that I worked with at the diner were telling me about everything. You know, places to hang out, the cool things to do. They mentioned the Wyatt mansion and how it was a local legend. It sparked my interest, in that way that ghost stories always catch peoples' interest I suppose. So, they told me the story of how old man Wyatt went psycho and killed his wife and daughters before running away to Europe and offing himself. They said that his spirit came back to the house where he murdered his family to search for more victims, preferably young girls apparently." She explained.

"But he died of old age in England." Sam said.

Dean nodded, "Yeah, so did his wife."

"I didn't say I believed the legend. I said that that's what they told me." Dani went on, "I was curious. So, I looked up this Wyatt guy and found out probably the same stuff you boys did. Though I didn't really look hard enough to find out anything about his kids."

"It wouldn't have mattered if you had." Dean said, "We dug about as deep as you can go and couldn't find anything more than birth certificates for them."

"Hmm." Dani said thoughtfully, "Well, anyway, figuring that there wasn't really any justification to the haunting stories, I agreed to go up there with a girlfriend of mine just to have a few laughs and be immature, you know. It was just supposed to be a mock ghost hunting trip to joke about at parties. But, I didn't have to do anything more than walk through the front door and I was just hit with this feeling."

"What feeling?" Dean asked.

"Just…a bad feeling." Dani answered, hugging her arms to herself in an effort to ward off an internal chill, "I could just tell that something was off. So much death. So many bad things happened in that house."

Dean and Sam looked at each other, each knowing what the other was thinking. Marisole Parks was never going to see her daughter again; dead or alive.

"Needless to say," Dani chirped, bringing herself out of her little trance, "I grabbed my friend, told her that the place was giving me a major case of the creeps, and we hightailed it out of there."

"Well, at least you didn't lie to her." Dean remarked with a crooked grin.

"Yeah." Dani laughed, grabbing the fresh coffee and pouring three mugs full.

"So, we were thinking that maybe old man Wyatt killed his daughters and that they are the ones haunting the mansion." Sam said.

Dean nodded, "That's what we were thinking, but that spirit that came up tonight was no little girl."

"What was it?" Sam asked.

"It didn't fully appear. Me and dirty Harriet over there blasted the damn thing before it got the chance." He replied, "But, trust me, Sammy. It was no kid."

"Besides," Dani supplied, coming back into the living room and offering them each a cup of coffee before returning to her seat and taking a sip of her own steaming drink, "there has been a lot of death in that house. More than just three little girls."

"How much more?" Sam asked.

"I don't know." Dani shrugged, "A lot."

"Maybe we shouldn't be focusing on Wyatt." Dean said so suddenly, you could practically see the light bulb click on over his head.

Sam shook his head, "What do you mean?"

"Maybe we need to go back even further. Who owned the house before Wyatt?" He proposed, looking back and forth between his brother and the blonde.

Sam looked at Dani, who shrugged, before turning back to Dean, "It's worth a shot."

"What did you come across in the house?" Dani asked.

Sam shrugged, "Not a lot upstairs. Some old furniture, dusty mattresses, broken picture frames. I don't think that at this point there was anything up there that would help us out any."

"There was a doorway in the kitchen." Dean said, "I don't know where it lead, but I felt like I was being pulled to it."

"Why didn't you find out where it went?" Sam asked.

"Because Miss Cleo showed up and distracted me." Dean retorted.

"I was only trying to help you." Dani said, glaring at him, "I thought you were just a couple of tourists looking for a goof and I didn't want you to die for it."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Dean said, suddenly on his feet. Dani hadn't even seen him move, "There are tourists going to this place!"

"Yeah," Dani nodded, "Somebody put the story of old man Wyatt on the internet on some Most Haunted website. So, people have started coming through to see it. It's been great for the economy, but I try to steer as many people as I can in the opposite direction."

"That's just great." Dean muttered, flopping back down on the sofa and dropping his head into his hands.

"I suppose you gather by now, we're not exactly tourists." Sam smirked.

"Yeah, I pretty much figured that part out when I ended up on the business end of a sawed off shotgun with the macho man." Dani said, jerking her thumb in Dean's direction.

The comment earned her scowl from Dean, but she figured it was fair play for the Miss Cleo quip earlier and giggled into her cup of coffee. Dean took a swallow of his own coffee, still staring at her through his peripheral vision.

"Well, I don't know about you boys, but I'm tired." She said, pushing herself up from her place on the sofa, "I worked a ten hour shift today so I am going to bed. Um, that couch pulls out into a bed, so you guys are welcome to stay here for the night if you want. It's not much but it's better than a lot of the motels around here and I don't mind."

"Thanks." Sam said with a tired smile that didn't quite make it up to his puppy dog eyes.

He looked so young and innocent, Dani was hit again with the urge to wrap her arms around him and tell him that everything was going to be okay. To cradle him up against her and tell him that there was nothing scary lurking in the darkness, despite the fact that they both knew otherwise.

"Dani." Dean said, drawing her attention once again to himself, "I have one more question for you."

"Shoot." Dani said, crossing her arms and leaning a shoulder against the door jam of her bedroom.

"The friend who gave you the handgun that shoots rock salt…"

"Yeah."

"Who was it?" Dean finished.

Dani's back straightened involuntarily at the question; like a cat suddenly on alert. "You don't need to know who my friend is. He prefers to stay below the radar, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah," Dean said, "so do we. But, if he's playing in the same game that we are, he might be able to help us out some time. Same for him with us."

Dani took a deep breath and weighed the pros and cons of telling them the name of her savior and one time mentor. She supposed there would be no real harm in telling them nothing more than his name, considering that if her friend didn't want to be found, he was not going to be found. She licked her lips and focused on Dean's pretty eyes. "Fine," she said, "His name is John. John Winchester."

**Author's Note: **That's the end of this chapter. Again, please let me know what you think! Thanks!


	4. Chapter Three: Learning

**Author's Note: **Here's the next chapter! I don't really have that much to say. Thanks JainaSolo! I always look forward to your reviews! Anyways…on with the show!

**Chapter Three: Learning**

Dean felt the bottom drop out of his stomach as he watched Dani turn to go back into her bedroom, but it was Sam who spoke up first.

"Dani, wait!" he said.

Dani spun back around to face them, eyebrows raised in question.

"You knew our dad?" Dean asked.

At that, Dani's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open as she stared at the two young men, who were now both standing, staring intently at her. She looked from one to the other and back again several times before she managed to find her voice.

"John's your father?" she asked.

"What, you can't see the resemblance?" Dean quipped, spreading his hands wide for effect.

Sam ran a hand back through his hair, "I can't believe this. Did dad ever mention her to you?"

"No!" Dean snapped, glaring at his brother.

"Why would he keep her a secret?" Sam went on.

Dean shook his head, bracing both hands on his hips, "I don't know."

"Please stop speaking about me like I'm not standing right here." Dani hissed at the two, earning a pointed look from both.

"So, you're telling us that our father never told you about us?" Dean demanded.

"He said that he had two sons, but we never discussed it in depth, no!" Dani exclaimed, coming out of her doorway and rejoining them in the living room, yet again. She didn't appreciate being snapped at and she was beginning to lose her composure.

"What's your full name?" Dean demanded, apparently not picking up on her irritability.

"Danielle Chatham." Dani supplied.

Dean turned again to Sam, "Does the name Chatham ring any bells for you?"

"Not one." Sam answered, tossing his head back and looking toward the heavens.

"This is unreal." Dean said, shaking his head again. Yet another mystery of their father's making. God only knew, there weren't enough of them already to go around!

"In a way, it makes sense." Sam said as Dean turned to face him, "I mean, think about how long it was before we found out about Missouri."

Dani's face brightened, "You know Missouri?"

"_You _know Missouri?" Sam and Dean asked in perfect unison.

"Okay, listen," Dani said surrendering to them for what felt like the thousandth time that night and sitting down on the couch while the boys remained standing, "You're dad found me right after my grandmother had died. She was the only family that I ever really had. That was three years ago. I never understood what it was that was happening to me when I would get my feelings; I thought that I was losing my mind. But, John did understand it. So, he helped me. He taught me a little bit about the darker sides of this world and he took me to Missouri, who helped me learn how to properly handle my…ability."

"I need a beer." Dean said, trying to let all of this new information sink into his brain.

Dani pushed up from the couch and went into the kitchen again, opening the refrigerator and pulling out a long neck bottle of Bud Light.

"And what about the gun?" Sam asked.

"John gave me that gun the day he left; last time I ever saw him. He had taught me how to shoot a good time before as what he referred to as 'sta…"

"Standard procedure." Dean and Sam jumped in to supply for her.

"Yeah," she said smiling as she twisted the cap off of the beer and tossed it into the nearby trashcan, "He told me that I was going to need something to protect me in my life and that he was glad that he could at least give me a start."

The memory of his father handing him a .45 to ward off the monster that he had thought to be lurking in his closet suddenly flashed to the forefront of Sam's mind. He could see his father giving this otherwise naïve and innocent young girl a lethal weapon as a sign of affection for her. It was just who John Winchester was. She must have actually meant something to their father. He looked over at Dean, and from the stoic expression on his older brother's face, he could tell that he was thinking along those same lines. Suddenly, Dani's laughter brought them both out of their thoughts and back into reality. She handed Dean the beer and continued to laugh as she watched him down half the bottle in one swallow.

"I can't believe that I'm standing here with John Winchester's sons." She laughed, covering her nose and mouth with both hands, "It's just so surreal!"

"I can't believe this." Dean said, rubbing one hand up and down his face, then back over his head.

"I'm sorry." Dani said, the laughter dying from her voice and she held her hands up in what appeared to be a gesture of complete and utter helplessness, "Is it some horrible crime that I know your father?"

"No." Sam said, offering her a comforting smile, "No, it's not horrible. We just…don't always know why our dad does some of the things that he does."

"Well, I only knew him for a short time, but he never struck me as the type who was big on explaining himself." Dani said.

"You got that right." Dean agreed, though the aggravation was still more than evident in his rough voice and he took another drink from his bottle. He had always been the perfect little soldier; never questioning orders; never stopping until he had finished the job; never asking for anything. Couldn't their damn father fill them in on something just for once? Just once!

"Look," Dani said, crossing over to Sam and putting her hand on his forearm in an almost maternal manner, "I think…we've all had a long night. Let's try and get some sleep and…we'll talk about this some more in the morning."

Sam looked at Dean and raised his eyebrows in question. After a moment, Dean shrugged and nodded his head as he sat back down on the sofa.

"All right," she said, giving Sam's arm a gentle squeeze, "I'm just gonna get you some blankets."

When she reemerged from her bedroom with a pile of blankets and a couple of pillows, the brothers had moved her coffee table out of the way and folded out the pull out bed. She handed her armful over to Sam and turned back toward her room.

"Goodnight guys." She said as she shut her door.

Dani fell back against the closed door and covered her face with her hands. John's sons were camped out in her living room. She had not seen this coming! She had felt a vaguely familiar sensation in her belly when she had met them at the diner, but she hadn't really given it much thought. She had simply dismissed it as nothing more than a commonplace physical attraction. Shaking her head in frustration at the mistake, she pushed herself away from the door and peeled her shirt up over her head, discarding it carelessly to the floor; soon to be followed by her blue jeans. With a heavy sigh, she slipped into the bathroom and turned on the faucet, hoping that a nice hot shower would help clear her mind so she could maybe catch some sleep.

After half an hour of letting scolding water beat into her aching muscles, working at the tension knots in her shoulders and back, she stepped out of the shower. As she toweled herself off, she let the exhaustion from the day's events settle in. She thought about being on her feet serving food to assholes all day; thought about her little scuffle with Eddie, then about going into the Godforsaken house and she felt what little bit of energy she had left drain out of her. She thought of John and all the bitter memories of being abandoned by someone she had respected came crashing back into her mind, making her want to break down into tears. She thought about Dean's curt manner in dealing with her unwanted presence at the Wyatt place and almost laughed out of incredulity rather than humor. It had been so similar to John's behavior; she was surprised that she hadn't made the connection right then and there. But, then she had had other things going on in her head at the time.

Not wanting to think about it anymore, or anything for that matter, she slathered on some lotion and ran a comb through her wet locks before slipping into her favorite blue pinstriped pajama pants and light weight long sleeved gray tee shirt. She crawled wearily into bed and collapsed. It wasn't more than five minutes later that she was lost in a deep sleep.

The harsh shrill of her alarm clock tore Dani harshly from her slumber, her eyelids fluttering open, she slapped her hand down on the offending object and gazed around the bedroom. The early morning twilight had cast the entire room and everything in it in a luminous pale blue. She snuggled down a little deeper beneath her warm comforter, wanting nothing more than to curl up in her soft bed and fall back to sleep. But, the knowledge of her two houseguests came flurrying tauntingly in the back of her mind and she kicked the covers off of her legs with a groan and climbed out of bed.

She staggered groggily to the bathroom and muttered a stream of curses under her breath as she ran a hand back over the massive tangled bird's nest that was on top of her head where her hair should have been. She knew better than to go to sleep on wet hair, but she had been too damn tired to dry it. She ran a brush back painfully through it; the end result being a frizzy, puffy mess. She quickly tied it back into a sloppy bun at the nape of her neck and brushed her teeth.

When she finally came padding into the living room, she was surprised to find that her pull out couch had already been folded back up; the blankets lay neatly folded at one end with the pillows stacked on top of them and the coffee table was back in its rightful place. They had woken up…and cleaned. Oh God, she thought with sudden dread, they were morning people. She hated morning people. Her eyes panned over to the kitchen, where she spotted Sam, clad in a fresh pair of jeans and blue hooded sweatshirt. He was sitting at her small round breakfast table, sipping coffee and tapping away at his laptop. Dean was…making scrambled eggs? He too had changed, now wearing a clean pair of equally tattered jeans as the ones he had worn previously, a dark gray tee shirt, and a deep maroon button up open with the sleeves rolled up. He threw her a glance over his shoulder.

"Morning, kitten." He said, his voice deep and rugged.

Dani's eyebrows drew together at the nickname as she wondered where the hell it had come from. Shaking it off, she rubbed a hand at a knot where her neck and shoulder met. "Good morning." She replied, her own vocals still crusty with sleep. She breathed in deeply the scent of fresh brewed coffee and went into the kitchen to pour herself a cup from the pot that they had already taken the liberty of making.

"Hope you like cheese eggs," Dean said, "they're my specialty."

"Specialty meaning the only thing he can cook without burning." Sam joked, looking up at Dani with a smirk.

Dani chuckled into her coffee as she made her way over to join Sam at the table. "I hope you guys weren't too uncomfortable last night. I know that thing is harder than a concrete slab." She said, sitting down in the only other chair the table had to offer.

"Oh, trust me," Sam grinned, "we've slept on worse."

Dean set a plate of eggs down in front of each of them before hopping up onto the kitchen counter with his own plate. Sam snapped his computer shut and pushed it aside, making room to slide his breakfast a little closer to him.

"Thanks for letting up crash here, by the way." Sam said, after swallowing a mouthful of eggs.

"Don't even worry about it." Dani replied automatically with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Yeah," Dean added from across the room, "and, uh, we're sorry about grilling you about our dad last night."

"It's okay." Dani said, looking down into her coffee with a small smile, "I understand why you did it."

"Well, now that that's out of the way," Dean exclaimed, clearly uncomfortable with apologizing for any reason, he hopped down from the counter and clapped his hands together with enthusiasm, "you wanna help us figure out what's going on with that ugly old mansion?"

"I can tell you what's going on with that ugly old mansion." Dani said, turning her bright blue eyes to his pretty green ones, "Nothing good."

"Dani," Sam said, drawing her attention to him, "you know our dad. You know what we do. So, you should also know that we're not gonna leave until this thing is taken care of."

"So, you wanna give us a hand or not?" Dean asked, narrowing her options down to the simplest of terms.

Dani shoved another forkful of eggs into her mouth and took her sweet slow time chewing. Once she finally did swallow, she blew the air out of her lungs, closing her eyes and shaking her head in resignation, "Just let me call into work."

Dean and Sam shared two matching triumphant grins as she pushed herself up from her chair to retrieve her cordless phone. She returned to the kitchen a little less than an hour later, fully clothed in another pair of snug blue jeans, a pale yellow tight fitting zip up hooded sweatshirt, and brown hiking boots. She had also twisted her hair into two braids on either side of her head and pulled a cream colored toboggan down over it. The three of them shared a look, letting everybody know that they were all ready to get started, so Sam slipped into his dark blue coat, tugging the hood of his sweatshirt up over the neck at the same time Dean pulled on his brown leather, flipping the collar up in the back. Dani shrugged into her pea coat before wrapping a scarf that matched her hat around her neck. Sam opened the door and motioned for Dani to go through ahead of him.

"So, where do we start?" Dani asked as she slipped into the backseat of the Impala.

Dean started the ignition as Sam peered over the top of his seat at her and said, "We figure we'll go back to the library."

"Haven't you done that already?" she asked.

"Well, yeah, but we were just looking for facts about Thatcher Wyatt." Sam replied.

"Now, we're gonna see what we can find out about the house in general." Dean finished for his brother.

"Okay," Dani nodded, taking it all in, "And then what?"

"Then," Dean said, "we go back tonight and toast the sucker."

Dani shook her head and leaned forward, bracing her arms over the middle of the top of the bench seat in front of her, "It's not gonna be that simple."

"Why not?" Dean said, glancing back and forth between her and the road.

"I told you," Dani told him, leaning even further forward, "there's more than one spirit in that house."

"Yeah," Sam said, twisting around in his seat so that his back was to the door and he could face Dani more comfortably, "but how many of them are malevolent?"

Dani leaned back with a sigh, "I don't know. I can't tell."

"Well, then, for now, we stick to the typical plan. Find the remains, torch them, wave bye-bye, have a beer." Dean chimed.

At the light sounding tone of his voice, Dani bolted upright in her seat again, "Listen, the only thing I can tell you for sure…is that there are a whole lotta bad vibes in that place. Whatever it is that's hanging out in there, it's evil, and I don't use that term lightly. It sounds cheesy, but in this case totally appropriate."

Dani looked at her again, her big blue eyes pleading for him to heed her warning and he felt himself wanting to put her at ease. "Okay," he said, his tone softening, "we'll see what we can find out and then we'll form a more solid plan."

Dani stared at him for another moment, her gaze searching his face for comfort; for reassurance; for anything to give her a little peace of mind. Finally, she nodded her head and slumped back into the backseat.

Five minutes later, they came to a stop across the street from the public library. After climbing from the car, they trotted across the road, Dani one step ahead of the guys with them flanking both sides of her. Dani cast a glance at them over her shoulder and stifled a laugh. They were both scanning the surrounding streets in both directions with stony expressions on their faces and with the way they were tailing her so closely; they looked like bodyguards. She found it mildly amusing to say the least. At the same time the three of them went springing up the front steps of the library, a pretty brunette in tight black pants and a dark purple zip up jacket came bounding through the doors. She stopped when her wide brown eyes landed on Dani.

"Dani! Hey!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, hey." Dani said, drawing to a halt. Sam and Dean paused as well, both standing with their hands shoved deep in their pockets. The door to the library opened again and a teenage boy with stringy blond hair hanging down in his eyes came hustling out, his shoulders hunched forward, hands buried far down in the pockets of his own brown canvas jacket. He stopped when he couldn't get past the girls and looked up, his blue eyes darting across the faces of all four of them, flickering back and forth between Dani and the guys before settling on the brunette.

"You wanna get outta my way?" he spat.

Dani's friend narrowed her eyes at him, "Why don't you just go around us, Tommy? There's a whole lot of stairs and we don't take up that much room."

Tommy took two steps around her, bumping his shoulder into her back as he seethed, "Bitch."

Dean and Sam both kept their eyes on the kid as he descended the library stairs, sizing up whether or not he posed a potential threat. He threw a glance back at Dani's friend, his narrowed blue eyes burning with undisguised dislike.

"Ass!" the girl called after him before turning back to Dani, "What a dick."

"He has his good points." Dani said in defense of the rude young man.

"Yeah, yeah. So, Dani," the brunette's eyes flickered back and forth between the two brothers, "how did you wind up being escorted by these two good-looking guys?"

"They, uh, they're family friends." Dani said, "Sam and Dean, this is my friend, Liv."

"Hi." Dean said, with a jerk of his chin.

"Nice to meet you." Sam said, ever the polite one of the two.

Liv flashed them each a flirty smile, before turning all of her attention back to her friend, "Listen, Dani, I saw Eddie earlier…"

"Whatever he has to say, I'm not interested." Dani said, cutting her off before she could finish her sentence.

"I know that." Liv stated, "And I fully agree with you. I just wanted to let you know that he's looking for you." Her eyes again darted to the two guys, then back to Dani, "I just don't want him to catch you by surprise, because you know it'll get ugly if he sees you with another guy. No offense boys."

Dean and Sam shared a look, each one thinking back to the scene that they had witnessed in the diner the day before.

"So," Dean drawled, turning his intense gaze to Liv, "Dani had some guy hassling her?"

Dani shot him a pointed look, "It's nothing, Dean."

"Yeah, right, it's nothing!" Liv exclaimed, "Her ex-boyfriend is kind of a psycho."

"How so?" Sam enquired.

Dani was fighting the urge to slap herself in the forehead, or better yet, slap all three of them. What right did they have to pry into her personal affairs? None!

"He was just crazy possessive when they were dating. He went off the deep end if another guy so much as looked at her." Liv explained.

"Thanks, Liv!" Dani snapped.

Liv looked at her, compassion and concern evident in her deep chocolate brown eyes, "Well, it's not like you would have told them."

"That's because they don't need to know." Dani countered.

"What if Eddie decides to show up at some point?" Liv said, trying to rationalize with her friend, "Don't you think they have the right to know that he might flip out on them?"

"Wait, wait, wait," Sam interjected, "what do you mean 'flip out' on us?"

"You're with Dani." Liv said simply, as though that were all the explanation that should be required.

"Okay, look!" Dani more or less shouted as her nerves reached the end of their rope, "You guys don't need to worry about Eddie _or _me! If he shows up, I'll deal with him. Now, can we please do what we came here to do and stop discussing my past relationship drama, despite how daytime television interesting it may seem?"

Dean pressed his lips together as tightly as he could in attempt to suppress the laughter that was threatening to erupt from his throat; Sam covered his mouth with his hand with the same objective. Liv just stared at Dani in a way that suggested she thought her friend was in serious denial. She pressed her hands against her temples and took a deep breath, her expression changing to one of tenderness and affection.

"I'm sorry, Dani." She said, rubbing her hand over Dani's arm, "You know I just worry about you."

"I know." Dani nodded, the anger draining out of her voice. Liv Donohue had been her best friend from the first moment she had arrived in this tiny little town; despite the fact that she regularly told her that she was insane for moving there to begin with.

"All right. I gotta get to work, anyway. Call me later, okay." Liv said.

"You know I will." Dani said.

"Okay." The brunette pulled her friend into a quick hug, then pulled away, "I'll talk to you later."

"Bye."

"It was nice to meet you boys." Liv said, flashing another insinuating grin, "Hopefully, I'll see you again."

With that, she turned and went skipping down the steps and across the street. Dani spun on her heel and fixed both Dean and Sam with a sharp look. As though snapping to attention, Sam reached over and jerked the door to the library open for her. Dani rolled her eyes before stomping through it. As soon as she was actually in the library, Dean and Sam burst into a fit of laughter. After a minute, they got themselves under control and joined her.

"If I read one more sentence, I'm gonna go cross eyed." Dani said, letting her head drop onto the open book on the table in front of her.

Dean had his chair tilted back on its hind legs with a book opened up in his lap. He pressed his thumb and forefinger to his eyes, trying to clear his vision. Sam was perched up on the ledge of a nearby window, chewing absently on the cap of his pen as his eyes scanned the page of his book. They had been in the library for close to four hours by that point, and they had still found nothing of any use. They knew that the house had been built in the early 1800's; 1803 to be exact. The last tenant of any note had been none other than Thatcher Wyatt, but he had only lived in the house for a year before abandoning it for England. He never sold it though. The house always passed to the next of kin, but no one ever moved into it. When the last of the family line died, it passed on to the county, but by that point it was in such bad condition that they just declared it condemned. It had been steadily rotting away ever since. They were all beginning to grow frustrated from the lack of details that they could find about that damned house.

Suddenly, Sam pulled the pen from his mouth with a triumphant pop and said, "Here's something. The name of the guy who built the house was Odius Hughs."

Dean and Dani both stared at him blankly for a moment.

"I didn't say it was something huge," Sam said, "I just said it was _something_."

Dani chuckled quietly, then eyed the stacks upon stacks of books that were piled haphazardly at the edge of their table. "No. That's something, Sam." She said, pushing up from the table, "I'll go see what I can dig up about this guy."

"Yeah," Dean said, snapping his book closed, "Since Sam found this Odius guy's name, he gets rewarded. With a break. We'll go and grab some lunch and bring it back here. What do you want, Dani?"

Dani groaned and stretched her arms back over her head, "I don't care as long as it's greasy and fattening."

"Can do." Dean said, grabbing his coat from the back of his chair and tossing Sam's to him. They headed out of the library as Dani disappeared back into the shelves.

After scanning the card catalogues and bookshelves, she returned to the table with three more books, each one roughly the size of an encyclopedia. She scanned the index and then flipped to the pages that she needed. Half an hour later, she was halfway through the relevant section of the second book when one of the paragraphs practically jumped out at her from off of the page. She sat up straighter in her seat, the pace with which she was reading doubled, and she began making speedy notes on the piece of scratch paper at her side. Then she read a sentence; one single sentence that put everything into perspective…and sent a chill through her down to her very soul.

"Oh, my God." She breathed aloud.

**Author's Note: **That's it for this chapter, and yes, I know that it was kind of slow. But trust me when I say that it is about to pick up. Promise. Oh, and please, please, please, review!


	5. Chapter Four: Closing Doors

**Author's Note: **Thanks to my reviewers, you know I love you for it! Here's the latest installment. Don't forget to let me know what you think.

**Chapter Four: Closing Doors**

Sam stood inside the doors of the little drug store, waiting patiently for their 'go' order while Dean was outside, propped up against the brick wall with his cell phone pressed to his ear. Sam pushed out a deep breath through his nose as he let his gaze linger on his older brother for a moment. He couldn't help but think about the previous night's events and how easy it had been for Dean to go off the deep end. If there was anyone on the planet who he thought would put up with their father's games until the end of time, he was sure that it would have been Dean.

Dean choked back the bitter taste of frustration. It had taken him damn near ten minutes just to find a decent signal for his phone. Apparently, Clearwater didn't believe in the concept of cellular towers. When at last he managed to get a display of two bars, he quickly dialed and then…waiting. He stood there rubbing his hand over his hair, his entire body radiating his impatience. Finally, after four rings, he heard a click as someone answered the other end of the line.

_"Hello, Dean." _Missouri Mosely said.

"Hey, Missouri. How are you?" Dean greeted, not even asking how the psychic had known that it was him. Could have been caller id, but he was guessing not.

_"I don't suppose I can complain. What about you? How are you boys doing?"_

"We're doin' okay. I, uh, I have a question for you, Missouri."

_"I know."_

"We just met a girl named Danielle Chatham…"

_"Boy, you better be nice to my Dani!"_

"So, you do know her?"

_"You didn't call me to ask me a question that you already knew the answer to, Dean. Don't beat around the bush."_

"How do you know I knew the answer to that? I don't trust people that easily."

_"But you trust her. You trusted her the moment you laid eyes on her. You and Sam both did. So, I say again, quit beating around the bush."_

"All right." Dean groaned, he could practically see the larger than life woman tapping her foot at him. She had always had more patience with Sam than with him; probably because his little brother was so damn dopey, you couldn't help but love him. "I have a feeling we're about to get into something pretty dangerous and I just wanted to know…how good is she?"

_"She's got more talent in her baby finger than most so-called psychics have in their entire bodies."_

"I mean…"

_"I know what you mean, honey. You're worried that she won't be able to handle it and you want me to tell you whether or not she can, but I can't."_

"Yeah, I know. It was worth a shot though." He paused for a moment while Missouri just waited patiently on the other end for him to continue, "Why didn't dad tell us about her?"

_"Who knows why John does what he does? Sometimes I wonder if even he knows."_

"I thought I knew all of dad's hunting contacts."

_"You do."_

"Didn't know you. Didn't know her."

_"That's because we're not hunters, Dean. We have a gift. Now, I'll try to exercise an occasional poltergeist, but I'm not about to go gallivanting off after werewolves and neither is Dani."_

"Well, she sure didn't hesitate to come bursting into that house after me and Sam."

_"How do you know she didn't hesitate?"_

"What do you mean?"

_"How long were you in that house?"_

"I don't know. Twenty minutes, half an hour…"

_"How do you know how long she stood outside, talking herself in and out of going in there?"_

"I don't."

_"Don't give her more credit than she deserves, boy. She's a scared kid with an extra sensitive tap into the feelings of those around her…alive and dead. You have no idea what that's like. At her age, it's hard enough to decipher your own emotions without having to delve into everyone else's."_

"But, that doesn't explain…"

_"She's not a hunter, Dean. She doesn't know about demons or creatures or possessions or whatever else it is that you go after. She knows a little about spirits, but only what I taught her. You didn't need to know about her."_

"I guess you're right. I didn't _need _to know…but it would have been nice for dad to clue me in anyways. I guess that's just dad, though. Well, thanks, Missouri. It was actually good to talk to you."

_"Don't sound so surprised. I am a very pleasant person."_

Dean couldn't help but chuckle, "Yeah, yeah. I'll talk to you later."

_"Dean."_

"Yeah?"

_"Tell Sam I said 'hi' and…take care of my girl."_

"Will do." Dean said and flipped his phone closed just as Sam pushed his way out of the restaurant, a brown paper bag in his arms.

Dani came bursting through the library doors, her eyes searching up and down the street for any sign of the boys or the Impala. She had three pages of hastily scribbled notes stuffed down in her shoulder bag, filled with information that she wanted to tell the guys about as soon as she possibly could. Impatience reverberated in the air around her as she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, anxiously watching for them to come pulling down the street.

"Dani." A gruff voice that she knew all too well breathed in her ear, making her jump.

She spun around and came face to face with Eddie. His caramel colored eyes frantically searched her face as his expression twisted into something akin to desperation. Before she could register what was going on, Eddie grabbed her rather roughly by the upper arms and jerked her to him. On instinct, Dani tried to squirm away from him, but his fingers bit into her biceps, clamping down like a vice. She stopped struggling and locked gazes with him; challenged him.

"Eddie," she said, her voice exuding confidence, "let me go."

"Why won't you just talk to me?" he asked through clenched teeth, pulling her tighter against his chest.

Dani tried to push away from him, her hands pressed firmly against the puffy material of his gray winter coat. One hand holding solidly onto her arm, his other snaked up to clamp onto the back of her neck. He pulled her to him like he was going to try and kiss her, forcing her to turn her head away.

"Eddie, stop it." She said, unable to control the tremor in her voice.

"I know that we can work this out, babe." He breathed against her cheek.

"I don't want to work it out, Eddie. I just want it to be over." Dani hissed, twisting around in his hands just before she delivered a hard kick to his shin.

"Ow!" Eddie howled, relinquishing his grip on her.

She took off down the sidewalk, making it about five steps before Eddie caught up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her to a stop. He slammed her into the side of the library building and used the length of his body to pin her there. He clutched her jaw tightly in his hand, forcing her to look up at him. Dani shoved against his shoulders with all her might, but Eddie didn't even budge.

"Tommy told me that you were here with some guys! Who are they, Dani? Are you screwing around on me, Dani?"

"No, Eddie." She answered, and he looked relieved at her words, "I'm not screwing around on you because we're _not together_!"

"Damn it, Dani!" he growled, "You _are _gonna listen to me!"

"Get off of me!" she cried.

"No!" Eddie exclaimed, "Now, I know I can get a little bit jealous…"

"Understatement of the year!" Dani quipped, slapping him across the face.

Eddie glared at her as a red handprint appeared on his cheek. He jerked her slightly away from the wall and bashed her head back against it, earning himself a satisfying yelp of pain from her as the first few tears spilled from her eyes. She moved to kick him again, but he worked his way in between her legs so she had no leverage.

"Don't you ever fucking hit me." He sneered.

Just then, Eddie's body was ripped away from her, leaving Dani leaning against the wall clutching at her throat. She looked up to see that Dean had taken Eddie by the collar of his jacket and slung him a ways down the sidewalk and was now stalking after him. Sam appeared at her side and put a calming hand on her arm.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Dani nodded without looking at him, unable to tear her eyes away from Dean and Eddie. Eddie had stumbled backwards as Dean advanced on him, his fists clenched at his sides; very much resembling a lion stalking its prey.

"What the hell is your problem, man?" Eddie demanded.

"My problem? Oh, that's funny!" Dean snarled, catching the other man by the front of his shirt and throwing him up against the side of the building. Dean like to consider himself a pretty laid back kind of guy; he went with the flow of things; took things as they came. But when some asshole felt the need to take it upon himself to hit a woman, well, Dean had a problem with that…and he had gotten into fights for less. "You like smacking around little girls, huh?"

"Maybe you should mind your own business, man." Eddie said, straightening to his full height and squaring his shoulders to make himself appear more intimidating.

Dean, the slightly taller of the two, stepped up to him until they were practically nose to nose, more accurately the tip of Dean's nose to the bridge of Eddie's, and glared at him. "Dani is my business." He said, his gravelly voice going low and cold.

"Oh, is she?" Eddie seethed.

"Yeah." Dean said, a dangerous twinkle in his eyes.

"Dean!" Dani called as she and Sam came trotting toward them, "Come on, Dean, let's go! He's not worth it."

"So, this is the guy that's been going psycho, huh?" Sam asked, slowing his pace to a determined walk.

"That's Eddie, yes." Dani replied.

"Hey, Dean."

"Yeah."

"Save a shot for me."

"You got it, Sammy."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Dani exclaimed.

Sam took his place beside his brother, both of them staring down at Dani's ex-boyfriend like hungry wolves. Dani ran up behind them and jerked on both of their arms, but having next to no affect.

"If you guys do this, you're no better than he is." She said.

Dean could hear Dani's voice, but it sounded faint and far away. Tunnel vision had set in and he had gone into that place in his mind; that place that surged with adrenaline and anger and a freaky kind of quiet. It was where he went when he was ready for a fight. He heard their newfound friend's light voice again, prompting him to speak.

"Sammy," Dean said without taking his eyes away from his target. Another lesson from dad: Never lose sight of your target.

"Mmmhmm." Sam responded.

"Take Dani to the car."

Without a word, Sam turned to Dani. She narrowed her eyes as she looked up at him. Did he honestly think that she was just going to be bosses around like that? He didn't try to force her though. Instead, he just held out his arm to her.

"Come on, Dani." He said gently.

The way that she was glaring up at him; completely indignant, he was afraid for a moment that she was going to lash out at him. He wasn't sure if he could explain to her that once you were in with the Winchesters…there really was no escape. And they were more than their fair share of protective.

Dani cast an uncertain glance to where Dean and Eddie were still locked in a staring contest with one another, then she wordlessly stepped into the nook of Sam's arm. He curled his long arm around her shoulders and they walked off to the car. Once they were a couple of yards away, with lightening quick speed, Dean reached over and caught Eddie by the shirt. He jerked the psycho forward so that he was speaking directly into his face.

"If you _ever _lay so much as a hand on her again, my brother and I will hunt you down and I swear to you on everything holy and unholy, it will be the worst case of suicide they ever found." Dean stated, his voice matter-o-fact. Then, with a harsh shove, he let Eddie go, turned on his heel and walked casually back across the street to the car.

Once he slid into the driver's side, Dean peered over the seat to look at Dani in the back, "Why weren't you in the library?"

Dani was just about to snap out some witty retort when a thought slapped her upside the head like a hammer and all thoughts of being angry for their knight in shining armor routine left her.

"Oh, God, I almost forgot!" she said, grabbing her bag and digging through it, "I came outside to find you guys when that…idiot distracted me! I found something! Uh, head back to my place. We'll talk about it there."

"All right." Dean said as he turned the key in the ignition and the car rumbled to life.

"Okay," Dani said through a mouthful of chili-cheese fries as she looked down at her messy notes, "so after you guys left, I looked up that Odius Hughs guy."

"The guy that built the house, right?" Sam said, licking a glob of mustard from his thumb.

"Yeah." Dani answered.

The three of them were camped out on her living room carpet with stacks of greasy food, her handwritten notes, and photo copies from the library spread out around them. Dean took a swig of beer, wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and picked up a photocopy of a portrait of Odius Hughs.

"Woo," he chortled, "he was not a happy looking fella!"

"No, he wasn't." Dani agreed. The man in the picture was skeleton thin with black hollowed out cheeks and dark eyes that seemed to pop out of his skull. His hair was nothing more than thin silver wisps and he wore a matching long scraggly beard with no mustache. And it was a painting! You'd think the artist would have tried to be a bit more flattering to the poor guy, "But, I don't think that Odius is our problem."

"Good." Dean said, shaking his head, "Cause if that's how he looked alive, I'm not sure I could handle the guy dead."

"See, I think it's his youngest son," Dani said, crawling across the floor to another photocopy and handing it to Dean, "Tate."

"Yikes." Dean said.

"Okay," Sam said, leaning over to look at the picture as well, "and why do we think it's little Tate?"

"Well," referring back to her messily scribbled notes, "I found out that Odius's wife, Patricia, died of pneumonia back in New York, leaving Tate and his older brother, William motherless. Then, later, that same year, William was thrown from his horse and broke his neck. This all took its toll on daddy Odius and the books say that he pretty much became a recluse after that."

"All this making me even more willing to think that it is Odius hop, skip, and jumping his way through that mansion." Dean commented.

"I don't think so, because all accounts of him state that he was thought to be a 'kindly old man who didn't deserve to suffer as much as he did'." Dani said, using a direct quote from one of the books that she had read.

"So, what do the good old books tell us about baby Tate?" Dean asked, stealing one of Sam's fries.

"Just that he was fascinated by devices of torture and that several of the Hughs's slaves vanished without a trace." She stated flatly.

"Oh, is that all?" Sam said with widened eyes.

"Well, then there's the kicker." Dani said.

"Do tell." Dean chimed.

Dani looked up at both of them for a long moment, then offered them the paper with her most important note scribbled on it, "He practiced Necromancy."

Dean tilted forward to get a better look at the paper at the same time Sam rose to his knees and snatched it from her hand.

"So, Tater-tot liked to commune with the dead, huh?" Sam said.

"I don't suppose you found anything about where he was buried, did you?" Dean asked.

Dani shook her head, "I couldn't even find what year he died."

"Yeah, but get this," Sam said, trying to make out Dani's damn near illegible handwriting, "she found reports that he spent a lot of time by himself doing his 'research'. I'm assuming that the research they're referring to is Necromancy so, I'm guessing that he did it somewhere that he knew he could have plenty of privacy."

"Yeah, those pesky dark arts rituals…the neighbors seem to frown on them for some reason." Dean quipped.

"Somewhere like an attic…or a basement." Sam continued as though uninterrupted, "Probably be a good place to start looking."

"Yeah, okay." Dean said, "And the human barometer here can probably tell us where the energy's the highest at."

"What?" The exclamation had escaped Dani's lips before she even realized that she had opened her mouth, "You want me to go with you? Back there? Tonight? No, no, no. I…I…I thought I was just going to be helping you guys out with some research, maybe…point out a cemetery or two. There was never anything said about going back to that house."

"Hey, Dani." Dean said, scooting over next to her and touching her arm, "Look at me."

Dani slowly turned her face toward him, letting herself get lost in the depths of his brilliant green eyes. He had his hands on both of her arms now, rubbing up and down them as if to keep her warm.

"You know, Sam and I won't let anything happen to you, okay." Dean said, "And believe me, I wouldn't be asking you to do this if we had even a little bit more to go on, but right now, kitten, you're the best weapon we have."

A chill ran through her body that had nothing to do with the temperature of the room. She looked over at Sam. He was asking her for her help with those wide, innocent, puppy dog eyes of his and suddenly, she knew that she couldn't say no to them; either of them.

"I'm scared." She said, hating how weak her voice sounded.

Sam was rubbing her back now. She hadn't seen him move over to them.

"We won't let anything happen to you." Sam echoed his brother's words.

"Not is we can help it, anyways." Dean threw in with a devilish grin.

Dani laughed despite herself, "Well, hell, who could turn down that offer?"

It seemed all too soon after that, they had wound their way down that bumpy, broken road and were parked in the thick of a group of trees, shielding the Impala from sight. Dani stood there, leaning against the side of the car while the guys stood in front of the open trunk, checking their shotguns. Dean stuffed a container of lighter fluid somewhere in the confines of his jacket and each of them shoved some extra shells of rock salt in their pockets. Dean then pulled the silver semi-automatic handgun that she recognized as her own from the trunk and ejected the clip. He eyed the compact rock salt bullets, cast her a quick glance, then slammed the magazine back into the chamber and held the gun out to her.

She took it from his hands, offering him a smile in return as she tucked the weapon into the back of her jeans. They each loaded fresh batteries into their flashlights, knowing brand new batteries would do no good if a spirit came near them, but changing them out nonetheless.

Sam slammed the hood of the trunk down and the group began making their way toward down the road toward the mansion. He had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach; hating that they had had to bring her along with them. She didn't want to be there; and in truth, she shouldn't have to be. His gaze fell on the house, and the thoughts of Dani were replaced with a sudden almost devastating need to get inside of that house. That was…odd.

Dani watched as Dean deftly climbed the fence with a practiced ease; marveling at how she hadn't noticed the skills the first night that they had been there. Granted, circumstances had been different then and now, she was trying to focus on anything other than what it was that she was about to do. Sam helped her lift herself over the fence and she gracelessly dropped down next to Dean, stumbling backwards and barely managing to remain on her feet. But, she had stayed on her feet and that was what mattered. She was followed quickly by Sam, who was just as nimble in climbing as his brother. Dani smiled to herself with the thought that the Winchesters were truly just a gifted family.

They crept quickly across the yard, the boys, ever the watchful guardians, all the time made sure that they kept Dani in between them. They climbed the front porch steps as fast as possible, the gap from Sam's foot a reminder of what would happen if they lingered too long on a single stair. Dean nudged open the door and he and Sam entered together, swinging their guns around in a quick scan. Dani stepped in behind them.

The wave of energy from inside that hit her was like a full frontal assault, causing her to sway slightly on her feet. She grabbed hold of the nearest thing to her in order to keep her balance, which just happened to be the sleeve of Dean's leather coat. He caught her by the elbow to help steady her, his brows drawn together in concern.

"You okay?" he asked in a hushed whisper.

"Yeah," she said, "It's just always a little much when I first walk in. Makes me dizzy, you know."

As soon as she had her feet back under her, she released his sleeve and he, in turn, let go of her arm.

"All right," Dean said, "Same as last time?"

"This is a scouting mission, right?" Sam said, covering the opposite side of the house.

"Yeah, you go upstairs and look for a door to the attic. I'll search down here for a door to the basement. Either of us find one, we call for the other." Dean said, "We _don't _go in alone, you hear me?"

"Hey, I wholeheartedly agree." Sam said.

"I think we should all stick together." Dani said, knowing that it probably didn't matter what she wanted.

"We cover more ground if we split up." Dean exclaimed.

"Dani."

"Yeah, Sam?" Dani responded.

"You stay with Dean." Sam told her, then turned to Dean, "Let's not risk having her fall through the floor if we can absolutely avoid it."

"Yeah," Dean nodded, "If she doesn't pick up any strong vibes down here, we'll take her upstairs later."

"What am I, a puppy that needs to be walked?" Dani said, drawing a pointed look from the brothers and added, "Okay, yeah, I kind of am."

"All right." Sam said with a slight laugh and started for the winding stairway.

"Be careful, little brother." Dean called after him. He threw a glance at Dani over his shoulder, "You stay right at my back, got it?"

"No worries there, man." Dani said, tucking herself in as closely to him as she could get.

They began to work their way through the house, going into what seemed to have once been a living room first. They crept through the room with Dean pulling open door after door which turned out to be numerous different closets. Dani eyed something along the far wall and against her better judgment, felt herself leave Dean's side as she crossed over to it. It was a huge, bricked fireplace. There was an engraving in the back of it that she couldn't quite make out, so she began to stoop down to get a better look. It was a carving of a woman…but, she was trapped in something; some kind of contraption. She reached her hand back, needing to touch the engraved stone for some reason. Just as her fingertips were about to graze it…

Something caught her by the arm and jerked her roughly to her feet. With a gasp, she found herself staring into Dean's very angry eyes.

"Was there something about stay right at my back that you didn't understand?" he growled. When he had turned around and she had been gone, he had panicked. The last time he could remember being that freaked was when Sam had disappeared.

"I'm…I'm sorry," Dani stuttered, "But, look."

She pointed to the fireplace and, keeping a hand on her wrist, Dean leaned down to examine it further. Dani knelt down with him, leaning in again to touch her hand to the picture. Her fingers touched one of the indented marks and a surge of images and emotions crashed into her mind.

_Pain. Long, drawn out screams. White lace splattered with red blood. More screams. Tears. Pain. An assortment of sharpened knives and surgical tools. Wrists bound by cold metal. The longing for death. Pain._

With a sharp gasp, Dani became lightheaded and fell back away from the carving. The only thing that kept her from hitting the ground was Dean's well honed reflexes. He managed to reach out and catch her at the last second.

Sam stepped carefully over the creaking second level of the old mansion, avoiding spots that sank under his weight. He alternated, darting glances through doorways and up at the ceiling in search of either a door leading to set of stairs or a trap door in the ceiling panels. Every now and again he would hear a rustle of movement somewhere in the distance and would pivot and take aim, ready to fire.

He slipped into an old bedroom that held a broken, sagging four poster bed draped in dusty red velvet and gold threaded pillows. There was a small vanity with a cracked mirror, littered with an antique silver handled brush, three broken flowered hair combs, a molding powder box, and several dried up perfume bottles. The white lace curtains that covered the floor to ceiling window blew in a breeze of unknown origin, sending Sam pivoting once again to take aim at something that wasn't there. In the opposite corner of the room was a tall bureau in which a few of the drawers had been tugged open, overflowing with abandoned articles of colorful clothing.

Sam held his breath as his flashlight began to flicker on and off.

Dean lead the way under the unhinged door and into the rotting kitchen that stank of mildew and animal droppings. Still a little dizzy, Dani kept her fingertips pressed against his back, trying to stay in constant contact with him. He swept the light across the room, coming to a stop on a closed door adjacent to the way they had entered. He flashed Dani a reassuring look and began to step toward it.

Sam turned around and instantly shouldered his gun, but something in him wouldn't let him fire. Standing in front of him was a thin, pale little girl who couldn't have been more than eleven years old wearing a dirty pink dress trimmed in dingy white lace. Her hair was light brown and hung limply around her face and she stared up at him with lifeless black eyes with dark circles underneath them. There were dark marks resembling bruises across her wrists, neck, and…the top of her forehead. The corners of her mouth were drawn down in a macabre frown as she took a step toward him.

Dean wrapped one hand around the doorknob and, with a deep breath, yanked it open and pointed his gun inside. Hundreds of jars containing questionable material stared out at him from what was obviously a pantry. He released the breath he had been holding and stepped inside to see if there was a trap door or something that might serve as the entryway to a cellar. Dani laid her hand against the doorframe.

_A woman with red-orange hair pulled into a neat bun at the back of her head wearing a long dress covered by a white apron standing in the pantry. She was humming. She picked up a jar filled with some kind of jam and turned toward the door. Her eyes widened and she screamed. The jar smashed against the pantry floor. _

Dani choked and panted as she pulled her hand back from the doorframe. She leaned back against the wall and held a hand to her forehead as she waited for Dean to finish examining the inside of the pantry, when her eyes traveled over to the open door on the other side of the room. It opened up into blackness and it seemed to be getting closer. She looked down at her feet to find that she had crossed half of the room and now stood at the midway point between the open door and the pantry. She didn't remember moving.

"Dani?" Dean said, drawing her attention.

She turned her back to the opening and looked at him. He came out of the pantry and took two steps toward her.

"Yeah, we need to check that one, too." He said, "But, you better let me go first."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Dean watched as it was like a vacuum turned on and Dani was all of the sudden sucked violently into the black void, the door slamming closed behind her. She had barely had time to scream.

**Author's Note: **That's it for now. Please, please, pretty please, review and let me know what you think! I'm begging you here! Thanks.


	6. Chapter Five: Tick Tock

**Author's Note: **Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Sorry it took me so long to update, but I've been really busy with school and everything. But, here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think!

**Chapter Five: Tick Tock**

As soon as the door had closed, Dean had thrown himself against it. He reared back and slammed his shoulder into it with as much force as he could muster. Damn it! His mind was screaming at him. What the hell had just happened? He hadn't even seen it coming! That was unacceptable! He should have been paying more attention. It was his job to look out for Dani and in less than the blink of an eye, he had watched her be dragged through some door into God knows where. All of his so-called 'warrior' senses kicked into high alert, allowing him to once again hurl his body into the door and not feel even the slightest hint of pain. In his line of work, that was definitely one of the skills that had come in handy most of the time.

"Dani!" he screamed, "Dani! Hold on, I'm comin', Dani!"

Sam couldn't explain why he did it, but with every step the little girl took toward him, he lowered his gun a little bit more. She looked so small and fragile and delicate that a part of him forgot that she was dead. Without realizing what he was doing, he soon found that he had knelt down so that he could be eye level with her.

She laid her hand on his shoulder, sending a chill down to his very bones, and blinked her bleak, dead eyes at him. Sam was overwhelmed by the feeling of melancholy and pain that flooded through him along with her touch. He wanted to hold her; to offer her some of his warmth; some of his comfort; anything he could to take that sadness and pain out of her eyes. She was so young. She didn't deserve to be associated with those kinds of emotions. He wanted to help her. He wanted to make her feel like the little girl that she was supposed to be. He found himself unwittingly willing to do anything that he could to take that hurt away from her.

"Sam," she said and her voice was like an echo of half a dozen innocent cherubs, "Sam, don't let him hurt me anymore."

"Who hurt you?" Sam croaked, his mouth suddenly drier than it had ever been before in his life.

"Please." She begged in her voice laced with a children's choir.

"Who are you?" he asked, searched her pale face with his eyes.

"He's going to hurt her, too, now." She said, tilting her face downward for a moment before looking back up at him, "Go and help them, Sammy."

"Help who?" he asked her, "Who did this to you?"

The little girl gave him a sad smile, and for the first time, Sam noticed that she had three ribbons clutched in her tiny little fist. One pink, one yellow, and one blue. She put the ribbons in his hand and folded his fingers up around the silky material. Then, she raised the hand that had been resting on his shoulder to his cheek, sending another shudder running through him at the coldness of her touch. The shiver ran down his spine all the way to the tips of his toes. She shouldn't be that cold. She blinked slowly two times and smiled at him again and then her eyes darted towards the door of the bedroom. Sam followed her gaze and that was when he heard it.

"Sam!" the cry broke Sam from his trance, "Sammy! Help!"

Sam looked back toward the little girl, but she was already gone…and his flashlight was working again. He eyed the three colorful ribbons that remained in his hand, confusion etching a deep line in his brow. He heard Dean call out to him again and shoved the ribbons into his pants pocket, snapping himself out of his little daze. He sprang to his feet and went charging from the room and down the stairs; following the sound of his brother's frantic screams.

"Dean?" he called.

Dean slammed his whole body against the door once again, but the damn thing just seemed as though it was determined not to budge anytime soon. He backed up and did it again.

"Sammy, I could use a hand in here!" he bellowed.

About that time, Sam came skidding into the kitchen, trying to regain his breath. He caught sight of Dean and struggled to find his voice. "What happened?"

"Son of a bitch got Dani!" Dean spat, once again hurling himself into the unnaturally strong barrier, "She's trapped behind this door!"

"Oh, God." Sam said, examining the door with his eyes before joining his brother's side.

Together, they threw themselves into the door. It didn't even tremble beneath the blow. How the hell do you explain a strong, solid door in a house that had been rotting away and practically falling apart for the better part of a century? They slammed themselves into it again, earning themselves the smallest sign of a shiver shooting through the wood. They did is again and heard the distinct sound of cracking and splintering.

"We're coming, Dani!" Dean called.

"Hold on!" Sam added, "Just a little bit longer!"

Sam backed up to do it again, but Dean backed away and kicked the door with the flat of his foot. Sam followed his lead, kicking at the door with every muscle that his leg had to spare.

"Damn it!" Dean swore as he kicked the middle of the door again, "Open up, you damned rotten piece of shit!"

"Hold on," Sam said, grabbing Dean by the shoulder to stop him, "Together. We need to hit it at the exact same time."

"All right. All right." Dean said, both of them crouching low in identical stances, "On the count of three. One. Two. _Three_."

Their feet connected with the door at the same instant and the combined concentrated force caused the lock to give way with a loud 'snap'; which in turn caused the brass doorknob to fall off and sent it bouncing down what had to be the world's most frightening and narrow wooden staircase. The boys shined their lights down into the stairwell, spared the time to give each other a quick nervous glance, then started making their slow and steady way down those rickety steps.

They kept their guns shouldered and cocked the entire way down the stairs. Dean lead the way, aiming straight out ahead of him while Sam crept along behind him, his gun pointed over the side of the stair railing. Their flashlights seemed useless as the beams were more or less absorbed into the blackness, cutting through the dark and into nothing, but it was long before they were able to make out shapes and silhouettes in the room.

The stairs seemed to do on forever; the temperature lowering with every step they took. Finally, after descending for what felt like forever, Dean felt the unmistakable sensation of his boot hitting solid ground.

"Ground zero." He muttered to let Sam know that they had reached the bottom.

Sweeping their flashlights along the stoned walls of the room, it didn't take them long to figure out that this cellar was also what served as the very foundation of the house. A quick glance down revealed that the floor was made of nothing more than packed dirt. This room had been meant for storage if anything. It was the legs of the house; never intended for anyone to actually spend time in. Sam moved alongside a work table that was covered with dirty, rusted knives of all shapes and sizes. Everything from machetes to handsaws to the smallest surgical looking scalpel; it was like a one stop shop for all your torturous needs. They were all laid out nice and neatly organized on what had once upon a time been a white sheet, but it had turned dingy yellowish brown over the years and there were several dark maroon splotches scattered across it. Blood stains.

Dean had found a table as well. On it, he had discovered what appeared to be antique finger armor, a ring that covered the entire finger, and at the tip of it was a long serrated spike. He didn't even want to try and imagine what that thing had been used for. There was also a pair of forceps that had probably been razor sharp at one time, but years of neglect had let the edges dull. There was a large metal sledge hammer lying beside a heavy meat cleaver along with a pair of rusty garden shears. There were old, moldy, yellowing papers covered in elegant cursive handwriting and faded drawings of human anatomy with notes and marks in red ink, outlining the different levels of pain thresholds in different areas of the body.

Out of his peripheral vision, Dean spotted a faint light coming from around a corner. He hissed at Sam, who came immediately to his side; spotting the light as well. They crept toward it and as soon as the wall was out of the way of their line of sight, Sam had to choke back a gasp and Dean's jaw involuntarily tightened as he came into view.

Tall and lean like the way every child feared the boogeyman to be. He was such a sick pale glowing white, his features were all but indistinguishable, but one thing was clear as day to them…he didn't look even remotely like a human. And he was standing in front of Dani.

"Hey!" Dean called, drawing the attention of whatever it was, "Get the hell off of her!"

When he saw the thing start to turn, he fired a round of rock salt directly into what he assumed to be its head and it vanished from the room with a loud, high pitched shrill akin to the sound of nails sliding down a chalkboard. Dean and Sam both cringed at the noise and fought off the urge to cover their ears. When Sam's eyes fell on an oil lamp, he rushed over to it and fired it up as Dean made his way over to Dani's side. He slammed to a halt, however, once the light hit her.

"Holy shit." He breathed.

Sam turned and crossed over to them, coming to a stop as well when his eyes landed on Dani's barely conscious form. She was strapped to some kind of a plank that resembled a table that had been upended. Sam crept closer to her and upon further inspection he found that she wasn't strapped to it, but more like she was bolted to it. There were metal clamps holding her spread eagle to this tall wooden table-like board. There was a clamp over each one of her ankles, each of her wrists, her hips, another crossing her ribs, one at her neck, and one across her forehead, keeping her from being able to turn her head. The clamps were fastened so tightly that her hands had started to turn purple from lack of blood circulation. The scarf and hat that she had been wearing that might have served as a sort of padding for her were nowhere to been seen.

"Okay," Dean said, licking his lips, "we gotta get her off of this thing."

Sam nodded his head and both guys closed in on her, studying her bindings and trying to figure out how to get her out of them. Dean suddenly noticed that there was blood soaking through her shirt and he gingerly lifted the material away from her skin to reveal several small gashes that had been made in her abdomen. He muttered a curse under his breath and went back to focusing on how to get her down.

Another shrill whine resonated throughout the room, causing the boys to search their surroundings high and low for the source of the sound. Dean jerked his gun up to his shoulder and cocked it with one fluid movement.

"Sammy, you focus on getting her down." He commanded.

"Right." Sam said, more to himself than anything. He discovered a little opening that was at the edge of each of the sharp metal bindings and figured that that tiny hole was more than likely the lock. Now, he just needed to find something small enough that he could use to pick the damn things. Anywhere that she was bound by bare skin, he noticed that there was blood dripping from there as the sharp edges of the bindings bit into her flesh. His mind flashed briefly on the image of the little girl he had seen in the bedroom and the bruise-like markings that had marred her pale skin. He suppressed the need to throw up. This was what that little girl, that child, had been subjected to. Well, he wasn't going to let Dani end up like her. He was going to get her down from there and away from this damned house.

There was another high pitched squeal that echoed off the walls, sending Dean into a 360 rotation in search of the bastard.

Sam rushed over to one of the work tables; his hands fumbling over all of the tools, searching for anything that could be of use to him.

"Come on, Sam, this is a sprint, not a marathon." Dean said.

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" Sam retorted, his fingers closing on a small pinhead nail. He spun around triumphantly and found himself looking into a face of white decaying flesh, a long pointed nose, and teeth that looked like they had been filed into sharp points. He gasped and stumbled three steps back, his hips slamming painfully into the edge of the work table. He didn't even know how, but suddenly his face jerked violently to the side and a sharp pain ran across his cheek. He touched his face and his fingers came away with fresh blood; his blood. He looked up, eyes wide. The face sneered at him, the corners of its rotting mouth tipping upward just as a shot rang out and it burst before his eyes and disappeared.

"You all right, little brother?" Dean called, emptying his gun of its shell casings. He cast a concerned look in Sam's direction, his jaw clenching tightly as he scanned over the wound on his cheek. Now, the damn thing had mess with his baby brother. Now, Tater-tot had really pissed him off! If nothing else, you do not fuck with Sammy right in front of him! Hell no!

Sam released the air from his lungs and waved a hand to signal to Dean to let him know that he was fine; pulled himself together, and raced back over to Dani, dropping to his knees in front of her feet. Dean fished some more rack salt shells out from his pocket and reloaded his gun, all the while scanning the room for any evidence of their friend's return. A low groan escaped from Dani's throat and Dean felt his own tighten in response. She shouldn't even be here, he thought bitterly to himself. Sam looked up at her just in time to see her eyelids flutter briefly.

"It's gonna be okay, Dani." He said, turning back to his work, "We're gonna get you outta here."

With a satisfying 'click', the metal clamp that was on her right ankle snapped open. Sam gave himself a mental pat on the back before immediately setting to work on the left. Dean wasn't the only Winchester who could pick a lock. Yet another screech sounded through the air and sent a fresh wave of cringes running up and down the two boys' spines.

Dean risked a glance over his shoulder to Dani. Her breathing was labored and there was a stream of crimson blood flowing from her mouth that contrasted drastically with her fair skin. He felt rage bubbling up in the pit of his stomach and shouldered his gun again. He had told that girl that they weren't going to let anything happen to her, and by God, they were going to keep their word.

With a hollow wail, the son of a bitch appeared in front of him again. He noticed that the thing wasn't really white, but a very pale, very sickening green color. He cocked his gun and pulled the trigger; watching the rotting spirit dissipate before his eyes gave him an odd sense of pleasure. He mentally urged Sam to hurry up.

Another 'click' and the left ankle clamp snapped open. Sam was on his feet faster than his heart could beat and had started fiddling with the one at Dani's hips. He winced when he saw the same blood flow that Dean had discovered earlier along her stomach. Another few seconds and that one snapped open as well. He was either on a roll or the locks got simpler as they went higher.

"How we doin' over there, Sam?" Dean asked.

"Just a little bit longer." Sam said at the same time the clamp on her left wrist snapped open and her arm dropped limply to her side.

Another sigh escaped Dani's lips and she tried again to open her eyes. "Dean…" she breathed, barely audible. She felt so lightheaded and she wasn't altogether sure as to what that thing had done to her…but she knew that she had to tell Dean and Sam what she knew. They needed to know. She tried again to work her lips, but her tongue felt so heavy and useless in her mouth.

"It's okay, Dani." Sam said, moving to her other wrist, holding back the nausea as he saw the layers of flesh that had been peeled back from her wrist.

"Sammy…" she said in the same breathless whisper.

The spirit suddenly zoomed in at him from the other side of the table.

"Dean!" Sam cried, falling backwards.

Dean spun around and fired on reflex, repelling the damn thing again.

"Thanks." Sam said, getting back up to his feet and returning to the task at hand.

Dean emptied the shell casings again and reloaded. This was one mean ass poltergeist; perseverant too. It didn't seem like it was planning on giving up anytime in the near future and that was the second time the fugly bastard had had the nerve to go after Sam. He couldn't remember the last time he had had to shoot at a spirit this many times. Of course, said spirits had never had somebody strapped down in the middle of a freaking torture chamber either!

Another clamp opened with a 'snap' and Dani's right hand fell to her side. He started on the lock for the metal bar digging into her neck. If he could just get through these last few as quickly as possible, she would be free.

"Sam…" she rasped again.

"Shh." Sam shushed her, "Just another minute, Dani, I swear."

"But…I know…" she struggled to force the words out of her mouth, "I know…"

"You can tell me later." Sam assured her as the binding at her neck snapped open and his hands moved to the one across her forehead.

"Sam?" Dean asked, casting an impatient look over his shoulder.

"Almost there." Sam responded.

Another shrill wail reverberated around them. "Damn!" Dean groaned, "This asshole needs singing lessons!"

As if it had picked the insult up on its radar or something, the so-called asshole materialized right in front of Dean's face, letting loose a high pitched growl. Dean stumbled back a few steps as he was caught off guard, but quickly regained himself and fired. He shook the start off, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, barely able to contain the adrenaline coursing through his veins.

With yet another gratifying 'click' the clamp over Dani's forehead came free, letting her head drop forward.

"Last one." Sam announced, shoving the pinhead nail into the lock of the clamp around her ribcage.

Hallelujah!" Dean exclaimed, just as 'casper the friendly ghost' popped up again and he fired another round before reloading for what felt like the millionth time.

The events going on around him began to set into Sam's mind as he realized that he was nearing the end of his task, and his hands began to tremble uncontrollably. He paused long enough to shake them out and then went back to work picking the last remaining lock.

"Wait…" Dani stammered, "I need to…I…I need…" It was hard enough for her to fight off unconsciousness without trying to actually form complete sentences. Another wave of dizziness assaulted her and her eyes closed again.

The last clamp around her ribs snapped away from her body and Dani tumbled forward, crumbling into Sam's arms. She couldn't seem to support her own weight, so Sam swept her legs up into his arms as well, cradling her against him. Now, all that was left to do was make it out of the house alive.

"Got her!" he called.

"Good," Dean replied, "Let's get the hell out of here!"

Leading the way, sweeping the gun back and forth as he went, Dean headed for the stairs. He paused at the bottom and motioned for Sam to go ahead of him, covering his brother's back as he followed him up the narrow stairway.

"No…" Dani protested from her position in Sam's arms, "Sam…no…we have to…I need to…"

"It's okay, Dani." Sam cooed, "We're almost out of here."

Sam reached the top of the stairs, crossed the kitchen, and ducked the unhinged door without even breaking stride. He did, however, screech to a halt when his eyes landed on the flowing greenish white figure blocking the front door. Dean appeared at his side just as the unhappy spirit's mouth stretched open to a great gaping hole and released a hideous moan. Dean screamed right back at it and fired, twice just for good measure and both brothers sprinted for the door. Once they hit the front porch, Sam felt the urge to look back. When he did, he spotted the little girl in the lace trimmed pink dress standing halfway down the staircase. She held up one hand and waved to him.

Sam paused and turned just slightly to her. He made her a silent promise right then and there that he would come back for her. She smiled sadly and faded away just as another high pitched howl rumbled through the house.

"What the hell are you doing?" Dean called to him, "Come on!"

Sam leapt from the porch and scampered across the yard to his brother. Dean hopped the fence and draped a leg on each side, straddling the top of the fence.

"Oh," he winced, "this can't be good for the package."

He leaned down and caught hold of Dani beneath her arms; he and Sam lifted her to the top of the fence and she lay slack in Dean's arms. Sam climbed up and over the fence, landing solidly on the other side.

"Dean…" Dani said, struggling to swallow, "we need…to…go…we need to go…"

"We are going." Dean said, brushing a kiss against her hairline, then he pulled her legs to the other side of the fence and lowered her down to Sam's waiting hands. He then swung himself across as well. Once he was on the ground, he took one side and Sam took the other side of Dani. They commenced to leading her back to the car.

"No!" Dani cried, twisting away from their grasps. She tried to turn back to the mansion, but her legs failed her and dropped to her knees. It was strange. She felt stronger, but she still didn't have the strength to carry herself.

"What are you doing?" Dean exclaimed, "We gotta get you away from here."

Sam reached down to pick her up and she swatted him away. Dean rolled his eyes, a frustrated growl escaping from deep inside of his throat. He shoved his gun into Sam's hands, reached down and grabbed Dani by the arms and jerked her up. Despite her protestations, he slung her over his shoulder and started trotting for the car; Sam right behind him.

Sam leapt into the driver's seat and started the engine while Dean was laying Dani down in the backseat. When she kicked weakly at him and tried to get back out of the car, he shoved her down into the floorboard so that she was wedged in between the front and backseats. Then, he jumped into the front passenger side and Sam was backing the car up before Dean even had his door fully closed. The tires squealed as they peeled off down the road.

"Okay," Dean sighed, running his hand back through his hair, "that was fun. I think we're gonna need a plan B."

"No." Dani said from the back, spreading her palms over the leather seats and hoisting herself up out of the floor. She turned so that she was sitting in the seat properly and it dawned on her that her strength had begun to return to her more fully. The more distance they put between them and the mansion, the less weak she felt. She paused to catch her breath, "I was trying to tell you guys…"

"It's okay, Dani." Sam said, looking at her via the rearview mirror, "We'll figure something out. I have something to tell you about, man."

"What?" Dean asked.

"Oh, my God! Will you listen to me?" Dani screamed at them.

The elevation in her voice caught Sam off guard and he jumped, which caused him to slam his foot down on the brakes. All three of them were pitched forward as the car jolted to a sudden and reluctant stop. Dean and Sam shared an annoyed look before peering over the seat at her. The looks on their faces were not what she would describe as happy and she struggled to swallow the lump that had suddenly materialized in her throat. After a taking a momentary pause, she managed to pull herself together; to recompose herself if you will.

"I was trying to tell you…" she started, taking a pause and waiting for one of them to interrupt her again. When they simply remained sitting there, staring at her expectantly, she continued, "I know where Tate's bones are."

**Author's Note: **That's all for now. Please, don't forget to review!


	7. Chapter Six: R and R

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the long delay and thanks to everyone who reviewed! Here's the next chapter and, again, I'm sorry it took so long. I've been swamped at school, but hopefully I'll be able to write more often now. Anyway, I'll stop blathering and let you read; with only a friendly little reminder to please review once you're done! Thanks.

**Chapter Six: R and R**

Dean helped Dani into her bedroom, laying her back onto her bed as gently as was humanly possible. Sam emerged from her bathroom holding in his hands the first aid kit that she had purchased when she had first moved in. Another lesson from the boys' dad: always have medical supplies on-hand. Dean helped her out of her coat, wincing when he heard her sharp intake of breath at the surge of pain that he knew she must be feeling. Knowing what they had to do next, he raised his eyebrows at Sam, who responded with a helpless look accompanied by a 'what else can we do' shrug of his wide shoulders. Dean nodded and came around to kneel in front of Dani as she sat up.

"Hey, Dani." He said, "This is, uh, this is probably gonna make you uncomfortable, but it has to be done."

"What?" Dani asked, giving him a sideways look.

"Me and Sam, we gotta clean up those cuts." He explained.

Dani nodded, not entirely certain as to why that should make her uncomfortable. Then, Dean reached forward and started unzipping her bloodstained sweater and it dawned on her…more like it whacked her upside the head. Sam sat down beside her on the bed and opened the first aid kit. Dani achingly shrugged her shoulders out of the jacket and Dean helped her peel it down her arms.

"Okay, lift your arms." Dean commanded softly, his voice low and soothing.

Hesitating for just a moment, Dani obeyed, raising her arms up painfully over her head. Dean took hold of the hem of her once white tee shirt and ever so gently slid it up over her head, his frown deepening with every whimper that escaped her lips.

"You know, if you boys wanted to get me naked, all you had to do was ask." She said weakly, attempting to make light of the situation.

But, her arms and torso were riddled with cuts and gashes. The wounds on her throat, head, and wrists from the sharp metal bindings were deep. There wasn't a sexual thought in the air as they all took in the severity of the damage that had been done to her body. Dean straightened, still holding the blood dampened tee shirt in his hands. He tossed it to the floor with her sweater and felt his jaw involuntarily tighten as he looked down at her. She looked small and bruised and battered beyond repair; in that instant she resembled a broken toy doll.

The corners of Sam's mouth were tipped downward as he struggled to swallow the lump in his throat. Neither he nor his brother had known this girl for very long, but there was something there; something about her that made every protective instinct in him come to life. It was happening to Dean, as well; like earlier when he had leapt from the Impala before it had even come to a complete stop because he saw that guy slam Dani into the wall. Sam couldn't remember the last time he had seen his brother react that way to something that wasn't a demon of some sort.

And now, she was sitting there in her bra, half naked, trembling and vulnerable, with blood covering sixty percent of her upper body. It looked like someone had taken a carving knife to her stomach, the skin was peeled back from her wrists, her neck was bruised and purple, there were three long slashes diagonally across her chest disappearing beneath the fabric of her bra along with another pair of cuts that were just peaking out from under the waistband of her jeans. The nature of the wounds suggested a severely perverse sadistic sexual kind of torture. Sam dug through the first aid kit in search of alcohol and peroxide.

"Lay back." Dean said.

Dani looked up at him, her chin quivering, "Why didn't we go back?"

"What?" Dean asked.

"I told you, I know where Tate's buried." She said, blinking back her tears and struggling to control the tremor in her voice, "I wanna know why you didn't go back and finish it."

"Dani," Sam said, bringing her scowling face to his direction, "you couldn't go back in there."

"Well, now I'm gonna have to go back in there!" She retorted, her jaw clenching as she spoke, tears overflowing from her eyes and streaming down her cheeks.

Dean cleared his throat and Dani's gaze snapped back to him. "Lay back, Dani." He said, his voice taking on a firmer tone.

Despite the fact that she still hadn't gotten the answers that she wanted, Dani felt the fight drain out of her. Her shoulders dropped about an inch and she averted her eyes to the other side of the room before easing herself down onto the flat of her back. Every movement that she made felt like it was ripping her apart.

Dean studied the cuts on her abdomen. They hadn't clotted yet; blood was still oozing from them, running down her sides and adding to the steadily growing stain on her jeans. He ducked into her bathroom and came back out with a towel in hand. Girls tended to be particular about their bedspreads and he didn't want her to ruin hers. He knelt down by her side and slid his hand under her back.

"Can you arch your back a little?" he asked, softening his tone as much as he could.

She nodded and lifted her hips from the bed, squeezing her eyelids tightly together, her lips tightening into a thin line, her face giving away how much the effort hurt. Dean supported her back as much as he could with one hand as he tucked the towel in underneath her with the other. He felt something brush his fingers at the small of her back, so once he let go of the towel, he took hold of it and pulled it out from behind her. It was her gun. She had had it on her the entire time and been unable to use it. He gently lowered her back down onto the mattress and looked up at his brother, his eyebrows drawn together in unease.

"Sammy." He said.

Sam nodded as he poured some peroxide onto a cotton pad and pivoted on the bed so that his body was facing her.

"I'm not gonna lie to you," Sam said, "this is gonna sting."

He touched the pad to one of her open wounds and Dani sucked in a gasp of air through gritted teeth, the muscles in her stomach involuntarily clenching up in protest. Dean's hand was suddenly on the top of her head, stroking her hair. It took Sam over an hour to get all of the cuts on her body cleaned and bandaged. Then, he and Dean helped her change into a pair of baggy sweats and a tee shirt that had, according to her, belonged to an old boyfriend and was about three sizes too large. She slipped into bed and within minutes, she was lost in a fitful sleep. She slept because her body needed rest and shut itself down; but she wouldn't find any comfort there. She would start and whimper and cry out as her poor mind was tormented by overwhelming nightmares. Dean and Sam knew that she was in for a long night.

Sam gently shut Dani's bedroom door behind him after checking on her for the fifth time just as Dean moved the coffee table out of the way so that they could pull out the sofa. Sam turned to his brother, his arms crossed over his chest and concern etching a deep line in his forehead.

Dean jerked the bed out of the sofa a little harder than necessary as he said, "I should have been paying better attention to her."

"The way you guys say things happened, it doesn't sound like there was anything you could have done to stop it." Sam said, crossing over to the bed and unfolding the same blankets that they had used the previous night.

"Maybe we shouldn't have taken her there." Dean went on, shaking his head at himself.

"It could pay off." Sam reasoned, "She said she knows where the bones are. Tomorrow, she'll tell us where they're buried and we'll go torch them. She doesn't have to come with us to do that."

"Yeah." Dean said, but he still looked upset with himself. That was just Dean though. He carried the weight of the world on those shoulders of his. If somebody got hurt, he felt that it was his job to have saved them. When Sam and John used to fight, he was always the one to try and keep the peace between them. Not to mention he had taken on the role of protector for Sam at the tender age of four; and that had never changed in his eyes.

"Oh!" Sam exclaimed suddenly, "With everything that was going on, I almost forgot!"

"What's up?" Dean asked, shrugging out of his over shirt.

"This." Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out the three ribbons that the little girl had given to him, "When I was searching upstairs, I ran into a spirit; a little girl."

Dean walked over to him and took the ribbons from his hand in order to examine them closer.

"She gave those to me and…and asked me to help her." Sam said.

"How can you help her, Sam?" Dean said, giving him a sideways look, "She's dead."

"Yeah, I know, but…Dean, it was weird. I wanted to help her. I mean, I felt like I _needed _to help her." Sam explained, trying to find the words to best describe what he had been feeling with the girl.

"Why would she give you these?" Dean asked, holding up the ribbons.

Sam shook his head accompanied with a shrug of his shoulders, "Your guess is as good as mine."

"All right," Dean said, dropping the colorful ribbons down onto the coffee table, "We're not gonna learn anything new tonight. Let's get some sleep and we'll stew over all this some more tomorrow."

"Yeah." Sam said, stripping his sweatshirt off over his head.

The wretched beeping of her alarm clock sounded, dragging Dani out of the even more wretched nightmare that she had been having. She opened her eyes and swatted at it; her body felt just as tired as it had before she had fallen into the restless sleep. She eyed the white gauze taped to her wrist and groaned. She looked like a suicide patient. She pulled herself into a sitting position and tongued at the split in her lower lip. She pushed the covers off of her and slowly swung her legs over the side of the mattress, every joint in her body screaming in protest as she did so. Even brushing her teeth was agonizing.

When she finally emerged from the bedroom, she couldn't help but smile at what she found. The guys were still asleep. Dean was on his stomach, his head at the foot of the bed. Sam was curled up on his side, clutching a pillow tightly over his head. Dean stirred and his eyelids fluttered open. He stretched his arms out along with his legs, kicking Sam in the head in the process. Sam grunted and threw the pillow that was covering his face at his brother. A laugh burst from Dani's mouth and both of the guys' movements stilled, then they each slowly turned to look at her.

"Morning, boys." She said, her voice raspy from sleep…and strangulation.

"Hey, how you feelin'?" Dean greeted her, climbing to his feet, the sheet falling away revealing that he was wearing nothing but boxers.

Dani quickly turned her face to the floor as her cheeks instantly blushed bright red. She was trying to pretend that the image of his taut toned stomach muscles weren't going to stay with her for the rest of her life.

"Uhm" she stuttered, "I feel…stiff. Achy."

"I'll bet." Sam commented, also getting out of the bed.

She heard the sound of a zipper and glanced up just as Dean was pulling a black tee shirt on over his head. She walked over to the fluffy arm chair and eased herself into it. Sam, who was thankfully clad in a pair of sweats and a tee shirt, went into the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. Dean set to straightening up the couch. If she didn't know what she knew about them, they could have almost passed for being domesticated.

"All of the cuts were pretty much superficial." Dean explained, tossing the pillows into the floor, "They hurt like hell, but they won't leave any permanent damage. Shouldn't even scar too badly."

"Well, that's good news." Dani said dryly, "Now all I have to do is figure out how to explain to the guys at work why I look like a human carving board."

"I hope you don't think you're going to work today." Sam called from the kitchen.

"I have to go to work." She replied, "I missed yesterday."

"Dani," Sam said as he came back into the living room, "you need to stay in bed."

"Yeah," Dean agreed, "you need to rest for at least a day."

"You just said that the wounds were superficial." Dani said.

"Well, yeah, but your body still needs time to heal." Dean responded.

She opened her mouth to argue further, but was cut off when Sam said, "Don't bother. I'm calling you in."

She looked up at him just in time to watch him stalking into her kitchen with her cordless phone in his hand. Reading her work number off of the paper hanging from her refrigerator door by a magnet, he dialed and put the phone up against her ear. Dani laughed out of incredulity and dropped her head into her hands. She was suddenly struck by the image of the Winchester brothers as two F5 tornados; swirling through her world and leaving nothing untouched in their wake.

"Great," she muttered, "so if I stay in bed all day, am I going to be in good enough shape to go back to the mansion with you tonight?"

"You're not going back." Dean stated in a tone that told her there was no room for dispute on the subject.

She ignored that tone, "I have to go back. We have to get rid of Tate Hughs's remains."

"Yeah, we will." Dean said, "As in, me and Sam will. All you have to do is tell us where they are."

"I'm not exactly sure." Dani replied.

Sam entered from the kitchen and handed her a mug of coffee, his brow furrowed in confusion, "But, you said last night that you knew where the bones were."

"Yeah, I know what part of the house they're in, but I don't know their exact location." She told him, taking a small sip of coffee, relishing the soothing sensation of the hot liquid sliding down her sore throat.

"Well," Sam continued, handing Dean a cup as well, "what part of the house are they in?"

Dani looked from one Winchester to the other, hesitating on her answer for a beat too long, "The basement."

Dean burst into laughter that held no real humor, "Well, you're sure as hell not going back down there."

"You don't get it." She argued, "I need to be there. I need to be able to walk around. I need to feel them out."

"No." Sam said, shaking his head.

"Look," she said quietly, "I don't want to go back…"

"Good." Dean interrupted her, "Then it's settled."

Dani let out a frustrated sigh. She may as well have been arguing with a couple of brick walls for all the good this was doing her. Dean set his coffee cup down on the end table by the edge of the couch and replaced the coffee table where it belonged. After that was done, he and Sam returned to the kitchen and began rummaging through her cabinets in search of something to eat for breakfast.

"There are bagels in the bottom drawer of the fridge." She called to them just before her eye caught sight of the color strips of silk lying on the corner of her oak coffee table. With a great deal more effort that should have been necessary, she leaned forward in her chair and reached for them, "Hey, guys, what are these?"

Dean and Sam looked over at her just as her fingers caught hold of the ribbons.

_Giggling. Light brown pigtailed ringlets tied up with pink ribbons. Playing with a golden ball. Twirling around, faster and faster and faster until the whole world seemed to spin. More laughter; laughing with…sisters. _

_Small and chubby round cheeks. Clutching a brown teddy bear. Golden curls, half tied back with a blue ribbon. Chasing crickets and butterflies. Laughing. Everything seemed new and fresh._

_Tall and slender. Pale skin. Elegant. The smell of fresh powder and sweet perfume. A coy smile and flirtatious bat of the eyes. A delicate yellow ribbon tied around a long slim neck._

_Golden ball bouncing downstairs…stairs that lead…to the cellar._

_Crying. Screaming. Begging for death. _

Dani opened her eyes with a gasp to find herself on the floor with Sam and Dean kneeling on either side of her.

"Dani?" Sam asked, "Are you okay?"

"The Wyatts." She rasped, looking sharply at him as tears began to pool in her eyes.

"What?" Sam responded, sharing a look with Dean.

"Where, where, where did you get these?" she asked, holding up the ribbons; her words spilling from her mouth quickly, borderline panicked.

"Um, at the house." Sam answered vaguely.

"Why?" Dean asked, trying not to seem like he was pressing her for information.

Dani felt so sad all of the sudden, "They belonged to the Wyatt sisters."

"How do you know?" Sam asked, unable to mask how anxious he was to hear her reply.

"Because, I saw them." Dani said, tears falling in a steady flow from her eyes, "We couldn't find out anything about them because they disappeared in that house. That's why old man Wyatt left and never came back. He knew that something was wrong with that house. That's why no one ever moved in and why they never sold it. They didn't want the same thing to happen to anyone else." She held up the pink ribbon, "This one was Katherine's. She was the first one he took. When she was ten, she had a gold ball that she played with and it rolled down the stairs to the basement." She exchanged the pink ribbon for the blue one, "This one belonged to Lilian, who was five and followed her big sister everywhere because she wanted to be just like her. She even followed her to the basement." Her voice cracked with each word as she held up the yellow ribbon, "And this one was Elizabeth's. She was the one he really wanted. She was sixteen and so beautiful…she raced to the basement when she heard…when she heard her baby sisters' screams."

"You said the pink one belonged to Katherine and she was ten?" Sam asked.

Dani nodded, laying the ribbons out on the table in front of her and staring at them sadly.

"I told Dean last night, I got those from the spirit of a little girl. I didn't think she could be much older than eleven. Guess I was off by a year." He said dryly.

"He said she asked him to help her." Dean added.

Dani looked at them wide eyed, "He's got them trapped there?"

"Makes sense." Dean said, putting things together in his head, "Maybe all those deaths you feel…maybe they're his victims."

"From life and death." Sam continued.

The phantom tingle from the surge of energies she had felt in the mansion coursed through her and Dani added up how many people would have to have died in order to project that much force. "We have to go back." She said, "We have to help them."

"You're right, we do." Dean nodded, "But not you."

"But…"

"No!" Dean cut off her protest before it even began, "This psycho tried to add you to his collection! You're not going anywhere near that house!"

"He's right, Dani." Sam concurred with his brother's statement, "We can't let you go back with us. Come on, let's put you back to bed."

He helped her to her feet and walked her back into her bedroom so that she could rest. When he reemerged from the bedroom, Dean was pacing back and forth, tugging at his lower lip which was never a good sign. Sam shut the door gingerly and sat down on the couch.

"So, what are we thinking?" he asked.

"I'm thinking we gotta go back into that damn basement." Dean answered.

"Yep." Sam said with a nod.

"And I don't think we should waste any time in getting it done." He went on.

Sam looked up at him, "You took the words right out of my mouth."

With that decided, the Winchester boys went to work doing what they did best. They spent the majority of the day cleaning and checking their weapons; making sure that they had enough salt and lighter fluid, that kind of thing. Occasionally, Dani emerged from her bedroom for a glass of water or something to eat, but she more or less did what they instructed and stayed in bed. It was late afternoon when Dean finally decided that it was time for them to leave. They both pulled on their coats and shared an acknowledging stare before slipping soundlessly from the apartment; not wanting to disturb Dani's rest if by some chance she had in fact managed to fall back to sleep.

Dani padded across her bedroom floor to the door, grumbling a stream of obscenities under her breath, not the least of which were curses directed at whoever it was that was pounding on the door to her apartment. She had known when the guys had left; true enough, they had made practically no noise, but she had sensed their absence…like a loss of warmth and security. She hadn't been able to fall back asleep for worrying about those two nitwits. Now, someone had come around banging on the damn door. On the bright side of things, her body seemed to be moving a lot better. Maybe the bed-rest thing really did help. Who would have guessed?

She swung open the front door, forgetting how rough she looked, and came face to face with Liv. Liv gasped at the sight of her, her bright brown eyes widening to the size of small plates as she took in her friend's appearance.

"Oh, my God!" she exclaimed, "Did Eddie do this to you?"

"No. No." Dani said, shaking her head, "I had an accident."

"With what, a barbed wire fence?" Liv spat.

"I'll tell you about it later. What's up?"

"Oh, well, I came to invite you to go with me and Janie and Todd." Liv said, "We're gonna go get drunk at the old haunted mansion and see if we can spot old man Wyatt, but you look a little…beat."

"Liv, don't go to that house!" Dani pleaded, grabbing her friend by the front of her fluffy white winter coat that always made Dani think of the marshmallow man from the movie _Ghostbusters_.

"Oh, come on, Dani." Liv giggled, "I know the place gave you the heebie-jeebies when it was just you and me, but this time we have Todd. He's a big, tough man!"

"Liv…" Dani began, but Liv held up her hand to silence her.

"Look, Dani, I know you're upset. I gotta go. I'll call you tomorrow, kay."

"Wait!" Dani called as Liv started to walk away, "Just let me get dressed."

"Yes! That's my girl!" Liv cheered, clapping her hands, "You rock! Hurry up!"

Dani hurriedly got pulled on a pair of jeans, wincing at every stiff joint and muscle and letting out a quiet whimper whenever she brushed against her bandaged torso. She changed into a long sleeved shirt and then stepped into her hiking boots. Her eyes landed on her dresser where Dean had set her handgun last night. A lot of good it had done her then; but tonight she had Liv to worry about. She grabbed the gun and tucked it once again into the back of her jeans. On her way out the bedroom door, she pulled on a vintage black leather coat that hung down to her knees. It had once belonged to her mother and Dani had always considered it to be sort of a good luck charm…and once Sam and Dean found her in that house again, they were gonna be pissed and she had the feeling that she was going to need all the luck she could get.

**Author's Note: **That's it for now. Hope you enjoyed it. Be sure to let me know!


	8. Chapter Seven: Into the Black

**Author's Note: **I know it's been ages since I updated and most of you had probably forgotten all about this story; but here's the next chapter anyways. School is finally starting to slow down a little bit and I can hopefully update more regularly now. Anyways, on to the story!!!

**Chapter Seven: Into the Black **

The sun had just started to sink behind the horizon as Dean's boot clad feet landed solidly on the inside of the chain linked fence surrounding the old Wyatt mansion. Sam dropped quietly down beside him, both of them instantly scanning the yard for any sign of activity since the previous night.

"All right," Dean said, his clear hazel eyes darting back and forth, "let's get our asses down to that basement and finish this thing."

"Amen, brother." Sam retorted.

As though it had been carefully choreographed, they both started for the house, each in perfect step with the other. They had brought more than just their shotguns tonight. After seeing that bad boy, they had come fully prepared for damn near anything, the apocalypse included. Sam toted on his shoulder the army green duffle bag weighted down with holy water, lighter fluid, extra rounds, salt, spare weapons, a couple of different translations of the Bible, pretty much any and everything that they might possibly need.

They took the stairs two at a time and at a hastened pace that they had deemed necessary to avoid falling through them. With only the briefest of hesitations at the top, just long enough to draw a quick breath, they burst through the front door; weapons drawn and ready. There would be no splitting up tonight. After a quick assessment of their surroundings, they started directly for the kitchen. Sam had just followed Dean under the crooked door when they heard the very distinct sound of shuffling coming from behind them. Wordlessly, they split to opposite sides of the door, backs to the wall, ready to blast the son of a bitch to hell as soon as he showed his ugly screaming face.

The assailant came through the door and on reflex, the boys had their rifles cocked and aimed, earning them a very loud, very girly shriek. Dean quickly averted the barrel of his gun up toward the ceiling at the same time Sam angled his own to the floorboards.

Standing in front of them, clad in a rainbow sweater, brown corduroy winter jacket, and bright green gloves, was a tall, lanky redhead with no curves on her body to speak of. And she was still screaming.

"Shut up!" Dean bellowed over her cries.

The redhead closed her mouth, but she kept her hands spread at her shoulders as though she were about to be arrested. "I don't have any money." She whimpered.

"Oh, Christ." Dean grumbled with a roll of his eyes.

"We don't want your money." Sam said, pressing the tips of his fingers into his eyes.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Dean demanded, annoyance just as evident in his voice as it was on Sam's face.

"Um, I'm Janie," the girl stumbled over her words, "I'm here with my friends."

As if on cue, a voice from the foyer called out, "Janie! Why did you scream?"

"Are you okay?" a second voice came.

"Oh, that's just great." Dean said, resisting the urge to punch a hole in the wall or shoot one of them just for the hell of it. "Sweetie, you need to get your friends and get the hell out of here."

Just then, one of her friends came ducking under the door. She looked around with wide brown eyes. "Sam?" she said as her gaze landed on him, then she turned and spotted the elder Winchester as well.

"Liv," Sam said, drawing her attention back to him, "you guys really shouldn't be here."

"We just came to get drunk and have a few laughs." She replied with a cheeky grin, "I mean, you guys are more than welcome to join us. You want a beer?"

Apparently, the fact that the brothers were each carrying a weapon had escaped her attention. A big beefy guy with a buzz cut who was wearing a camouflage hunting parka and jeans and lugging a twelve pack of MGD in each hand came hunched over beneath the door next.

"Great," Dean muttered again, "now it's a party."

"Guys," Liv said, still thinking they could all go outside and have a good old time, "this is Sam and Dean. They're old friends of Dani's. Sam, Dean, this is Janie and Todd."

"Well, as nice as it is to meet you and we really don't want to seem rude, but…"

Dean cut his brother off, "Would you scram already?"

"Who pissed in this guy's Cheerios?" Todd spat.

Liv jumped in between them just as Dean took a threatening step toward buzz boy, "Okay, boys, let's play nice."

That was the moment the fourth and final member of their party came crouching through the doorway, straightening and immediately focusing in on Dean's hazel eyes, which were flashing gold, letting her know that he was angry. And once they locked onto her, the gold burned even brighter.

"Oh, hell no!" he exclaimed.

"Oh, boy." Sam groaned.

Dani stood there frozen in her tracks with her mouth agape; trying to think of what to say but it seemed that her entire vocabulary had left her brain. Dean reached over and caught her by the sleeve, pulling her firmly, but as gently, at least what was gentle for him, over to him.

"What do you think you're doing here?" he hissed.

"I couldn't talk them out of coming here," she tried to explain, "and I figured you would be less inclined to shoot them if I were with them."

"Well, you're wrong about that." He quipped, his eyes widening in an almost manic expression.

"Plus with me here, you'll be able to find Tate faster and this'll all be over." She reasoned.

Dean's jaw kept clenching and unclenching as he searched her blue eyes with his own, trying to figure out what to do. Dani met his unwavering stare with one of her own, refusing to back down. She crossed her arms over her chest and cocked a hip, settling in. She wanted him to know that she wasn't planning on going anywhere and she could be just as stubborn as him, damn it. Finally, he seemed to come to a decision.

"If you leave my side…" he began.

"I won't." Dani stated.

"And if things start to get ugly…"

"I'll run like hell."

"Faster."

"Okay."

Dean let out a frustrated breath and turned to face the rest of the crowd, claiming a vice-like grip on Dani's hand. "All right, then." He said, his gaze scanning each of the faces before him.

The redhead who had screamed at a pitch high enough to shatter glass wasn't looking at him though.

"Wow," she chirped, taking a step away from them, "look at that door. It's so black."

Sam instinctively caught her by the upper arm and slung her to his other side, placing his own body between her and the doorway.

"Hey, you're hurting me." She whined.

"Okay, listen to me…"

"Janie." She supplied for him, rolling her bright green eyes.

Sam nodded, "Yeah, listen to me, Janie, in places like this it's generally a good idea to NOT go wandering off on your own."

Janie scrunched up her lightly freckled face and twisted her arm out of his grasp, "Who is this guy?"

"That's a good question." Todd grunted, taking a step forward and leaning so he was talking directly into Sam's face, "Just who do you think you are to come in here and start bossin' us all around?"

"Hey!" Dean snapped, "In case you forgot, baldy, you're the ones who came barging in on us."

"Hey, no offense Dani," Janie said, pivoting to face Dani and Dean, "but your friends are assho..." Her sentence was cut short with a scream as the floor gave out beneath her and she fell through, barely managing to catch herself by spreading her arms.

Dean and Sam were both beside her in the bat of an eye, pulling her up by her arms.

"Ha!" Dean said, "You said I would be the first one to fall through!"

"I know, I know," Sam admitted, "I owe you ten bucks."

They pulled the redhead out of the newly made hole in the floor and righted her on her feet. Dani stepped up to her with her arms crossed; face set in a stern expression. "What was that you were saying about my friends?"

Janie stared at the shorter but no less intimidating woman in front of her; finding it very difficult to swallow all of the sudden. Dean, who was hiding a smirk, discreetly tugged both women a little bit closer to the wall, as they were standing too close to the hole in the floor for his taste. Todd, always to be relied upon, turned his attention back to Sam and pushed him in the chest with the heel of his hand. Apparently, he was still determined to get some answers.

"What the hell?" Sam exclaimed.

"I asked you a question!" Todd shouted.

"Would you mind keeping your voice down?" Sam said, his eyes quickly checking all directions throughout the room before focusing again on the lughead in front of him.

Liv looked at him with a questioning expression on her pretty face as she shoved a strand of her dark brown hair back behind an ear. "Okay," she said, forcing a smile on her face and placing one hand on Sam's shoulder, "we're all here to have a good time," she didn't catch Dean's snort in the background, "so I think everyone should just chill out and calm down."

That was when all of their flashlights began to sputter and everyone who was carrying one slapped their respective light against an open palm.

"Oh, shit." Dani breathed, staring down at her dying flashlight and tightening her fingers around Dean's hand.

He responded in kind, pulling her in a little closer to him and whispering, "Don't worry, you're not going anywhere."

A loud shriek suddenly curdled up out of Liv's throat just before she turned and buried her head in Sam's chest, whose arm went around her shoulders on reflex. He looked in the direction that she had been staring when she screamed, just as everyone else did the same thing.

"Oh, my God!" Janie screamed and latched onto the person that was standing closest to her, which at the moment just happened to be Dean.

Todd stumbled back a few steps, then tripped over his damn feet and fell flat onto his ass.

"Wait, wait," Sam shushed, never taking his eyes off of the young girl in the pale pink dress that stood no more than five feet away from them, "everybody just calm down, okay?"

An image of the little girl as she had been when she was vibrant and alive flashed through Dani's mind as she stared at her now. She paid particular attention to the bruises at her neck and wrists, feeling a wave of sadness wash over her. A tear slid down her cheek as she thought about what had befallen that sweet, innocent little child for no reason other than that she had gone down the stairs after her favorite toy.

Dean couldn't believe the emotions that welled up inside of him at the sight of this girl. He felt such a rush of sorrow that it nearly brought him off of his feet and to his knees. He understood what Sam had been saying now, about wanting to help her. He felt almost overcome with the urge to help her; to rescue this child.

Sam pried Liv away from him as tenderly as he could and started to walk toward the pale little spirit. Liv clutched violently to his arm and began shaking her head, "No, no, no." she kept repeating.

"Hey," Sam said, turning to her, "it's okay. Just stay right here, okay? I mean it. Don't move from this spot."

Liv slowly uncurled her fingers from the sleeve of his coat and nodded, her eyes intent on the toes of the fashionable white snow boots that the bottom of her jeans were tucked into. Sam walked past her and steadily approached where the young girl remained, staring at him, waiting patiently.

"Hey, Katherine." He said.

There was the barest hint of a smile on her face as he said her name. It vanished so quickly though that Sam could have very imagined it. She blinked those dead eyes at him, "Don't let him hurt me anymore. Don't let him hurt us anymore."

"Who else is he hurting, Katherine?" Sam asked.

Katherine's lifeless gaze bounced over his shoulder. He followed her lead, craning his neck to look behind him. Dani turned her head in the same direction as well. She gasped and shifted her weight into Dean, throwing them both back against the wall; taking Janie, who was still attached to Dean's arm along with them. Liv covered her face with her hands, slamming her back into the wall and sinking to the floor in tears. Todd fainted.

Standing in front of the doorway to the pantry wearing an ankle length blue dress and long white apron, her dirty red hair hanging limply around her shoulders was the woman that Dani had seen drop the jar of jam in her vision. She had the same markings that Katherine and Dani herself possessed. She stared at Sam for a moment, then turned around and disappeared behind the closed pantry door. Sam turned back to Katherine.

"Are there more?" he asked.

The little girl just nodded somberly to him.

"Your sisters?"

She nodded again, her frowning face breaking his heart.

"I'm gonna help you, Katherine." Sam said, "Me and my brother, we're gonna help you."

Katherine blinked one more time at him, touched her hand to his, filling him once again with a dreadful cold feeling; then she turned her back to him and vanished into the air.

"W-w-was that a r-real ghost?" Janie asked, her face pressed into Dean's shoulder.

"No," Dean responded, "No, that was a werewolf."

"Oh, my God." She said again.

"Yeah, okay." Dean said and began trying to detach himself from the simpering redheaded string bean.

Sam spun around and strolled back over to the group purposefully. It was time for them to get back to business and quit messing around. He took in the sight before him. Todd had just roused, Dani was staring off in the direction that Katherine had disappeared, Liv was on the floor with her face buried in her knees, and Dean was brushing off Janie's groping hands as she kept trying to get another hold on him.

"All right," Sam snapped, "you three need to get out of here, right now."

"Us _three_?" Janie said, abandoning her pursuit of Dean's body, much to his relief, "There are four of us."

"Dani's staying with us." Dean stated bluntly.

Liv's head snapped up at his words. "What?" she exclaimed, "I don't think so!"

Sam turned to look at her as she stared up at him with lines of mascara streaking down her cheeks from where she had been crying. "Yes, she is." He said.

"Okay, listen!" Liv said, spreading her arms out wide but still not rising from the floor, "Either somebody slipped something pretty heavy into my gin and tonic earlier or this place is honest to God haunted! Either way, Dani is not staying here! She's coming home with us!"

The moment she finished her little diatribe, her body was ripped viciously from the wall as though someone had tied a rope around her ankles and pulled. Sam dropped to his knees and caught her by the wrists as she went flying past him. Dean was instantly by his side with a grip on her forearms. The three of them flew towards the black void that led to the basement; but Dean and Sam managed to lock their legs against the doorframe while keeping a hold of Liv's arms, stopping them from being sucked all the way through.

"Liv!" Dani cried, rushing forward to help them.

"No!" Dean shouted at her, "Dani, you stay back!"

A high pitched siren scream rang out through the room; causing both Janie and Todd to cover their ears with their hands. The two of them huddled together and crouched down, tucking themselves into the corner of the kitchen. Dani was standing in what she deemed to be the dead center of the kitchen as Sam and Dean struggled to keep her best friend from ending up in that basement. She felt an unnatural shiver go sliding down her spine like a slug. Slowly, she turned her face and peered over her shoulder.

The sickeningly pale green face sneered at her, revealing the rows of sharpened pointed teeth and ashen gray eyes. Dani pivoted around on the balls of her feet and took an untidy step back away from it.

"Dean!" she cried, "Sam!"

Dean looked up first, followed immediately by Sam.

"Damn it, get away from her!" Dean bellowed, his grip unknowingly slipping a little on Liv's arm.

She slid a little bit farther into the blackness and screamed, causing Sam's attention to snap back to her and Dean tightened his hold on her forearm once again. He could do nothing but watch as the malevolent spirit floated steadily closer and closer to Dani and he screamed his frustration out through gritted teeth.

Dani found herself paralyzed by the glowing gray eyes in front of her, and it felt as though the cuts on her stomach had reopened. She wanted with everything in her to take another step backwards, but she stood there immobilized by her panic. Flashes of memories of that basement and her torture floated through her mind and her jaw tightened. She would not end up on that damn slab again. Slowly, she reached her hand around behind her for her waistband. In one fluid motion, she drew the handgun from her jeans, swung it around, and fired right between those damn glowing eyes. The apparition dissipated and at the exact same instant, Liv's back hit the floor and she went scrambling backwards away from the doorway. Sam dove after her and the brunette threw her arms around his neck and clung to him, sobbing uncontrollably into his shoulder. Dean got to his feet and walked over to where Dani stood.

She clutched one hand to her side, which had started bleeding again and the other trembling hand held her gun. Dean brushed his hand over her hair, then grasped her by the back of the neck and pulled her into an embrace. A rustling noise in the corner sent a fresh surge of adrenaline through each of them. Dani spun towards it and aimed her gun at the same time Dean countered so that he was positioned as a human shield in front of the majority of her body. They both let out a breath and Dani lowered her arm as Janie and Todd rose awkwardly to their feet, still pressed against the wall for support.

"Did that really just happen?" Janie asked.

"Afraid so, cupcake." Dean replied, turning his body once again toward Dani.

"So, those were real ghosts?" Todd said.

"Oh, for the love of…do you need it spelled out for you, People?" Dean snapped, "Yes, those were ghosts. Yes, this is really happening. And a big fat resounding _yes_! This house is actually haunted!"

Todd audibly gulped as his eyes began darting around the room and Janie's chin began to quiver. Dean rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Dani, dropping to a knee in front of her.

"Here," he said, reaching for the hem of her shirt, "let me get a look at that."

"It's fine." Dani said, wincing as he pulled the material up and away from the sensitive skin.

Dean peeled part of the white bandage away from her stomach to check on her wounds. They had started to bleed again, but it wasn't gushing; just a mild trickle really. He smoothed the gauze back over it with a frown tugging at the corners of his full lips and dropped her shirt back down before he pushed himself up to his feet.

"You're all right for now," he said, "but we gotta change those bandages when we get back to the house."

Dani nodded, running her hand over her tender abdomen. Sam had finally managed to calm Liv down; at least to the point where she wasn't hyperventilating anymore. He climbed to his feet, then took hold of her underneath her arms and lifted her up as well and walked her over to join the others. Dani instantly moved to wrap her arms around her friend, the two girls crying onto each other's shoulders.

"So, are we doin' this?" Sam asked.

"You bet your ass we are." Dean replied.

"Okay," Sam said, touching Liv's back, "come on, Liv."

Sniffling, Liv pulled back from Dani and looked over her shoulder at Sam. "What?" she asked, wiping her palm over her cheeks.

"You two," Sam said turning to Todd and Janie, "you need to get Liv out of here as fast as you can."

"Yeah," Dean tacked on, "get in your car and get the hell away from this place."

Liv grabbed Dani's forearm, "Not without Dani."

"Liv, I have to stay." Dani said.

"Dani, it's not safe here." Liv pleaded, "You saw what just happened! I'm not going to just leave you here, now come on!"

Dean and Sam shared a look, each of them thinking seriously about telling Dani to just go; to get out; to leave the house and not look back.

"Do you think I want to stay here?" Dani said, fresh tears spilling from her eyes, "No, I don't..."

"Then come home with me."

"But I have to stay."

"No, Dani…" Liv started.

"Okay, look," Dean cut her off, taking Liv by the arm and walking her across the room over to where Todd and Janie stood, "I'm sorry, but we really don't have time to stand around talking about this. You, you, and you: out!"

"Yeah, okay." Janie said quickly and ducked through the doorway.

"Dani!" Liv said.

"Would you please get her out of here!" Sam spat.

Todd seemed to debate with himself for a second, then nodded, grabbed Liv by the waist and carried her out of the room. They could hear her screaming at him the entire way out of the house. Dean bent over and picked up the duffle bag that Sam had dropped to the floor at some point, letting out a low whistle as he stood back up, slinging the bag over his shoulder.

"I do not envy him, right now." He said.

"Yeah," Sam agreed, "Your friend Liv is a handful."

Dani smiled, "You have no idea…but if we make it out of this alive, you probably will."

"Why do you say that?" Sam asked.

"She holds grudges." Dani answered.

"Onto less frightening subjects…let's go find Tate!" Sam chimed, picking up his gun and cocking it.

The three grouped together and moved to stand in front of the eerie doorway, staring with that could only be described as dread into the narrow nothingness of the stairwell. Dani stood in between the two brothers; who were both casting her concerned looks.

"You sure you want to do this?" Sam asked her.

"I am one hundred percent sure that I do _not_ want to do this." She replied.

"Well," Dean chirped, a cocky grin playing across his lips, "now that that's settled, let's go get this son of a bitch!"

Dani nodded, Sam took a steadying breath, and Dean was the first one to put his foot down on the top stair.

**Author's Note: **That's it for now. I promise that my next update will be much quicker than this one. But, please, please, please, let me know what you think. Thanks!!!


	9. Chapter Eight: Bones

**Author's Note: **Again, it's been forever since I updated…such is the life of a college student. Anyways, here's the next chapter. Be sure to let me know what you think!!!

**Chapter Eight: Bones**

With every stair, every creak of rotting wood, Dani's shivers seemed to grow ever the more insistent. Part of her feared that she would be deep into heavy convulsions by the time they reached the bottom. When she had been flung into the room the night before, it had all happened so quickly and seemed so surreal, it was almost as though it had been happening to another person. There hadn't been time to think about the fact that she was making her way down into a dank, dirty basement that had been converted into a psychopath's torture chamber playground. Now, with each step she took, that thought was all too present in the front of her mind.

One by one, their feet hit the dirt floor and they lined up in a sort of crescent formation, each with a weapon held out in front of them.

"So, what are we doin' here, Dani?" Dean asked.

"I, uh, I need time to feel out where he's at." She stuttered.

A high pitched screaming echoed off of the walls throughout the room, sending both of the guys into full 360 spins in search of a target.

"Well," Sam said, "get started."

Dani nodded, shifting her gun into one hand and tucking her flashlight as far as it would go into one of her back pockets, leaving one of her hands free. She groped around blindly into the darkness before her until her hand finally landed on one of the worktables.

Sam glided along the wall of the basement until he found the same lantern from the night before and lit it up again, casting the room in a dim but usable light. Dean kept his weapon shouldered as he kept searching the rafters and stairs for any sign of their friendly host with the most.

"So," Sam said, rolling his shoulders to alleviate tension before readying his gun once again, "how do you know we're looking in the right place?"

"Because I can feel it." Dani said simply, "Besides, Tate was into Necromancy. He would've wanted to be somewhere that he felt…safe…for his afterlife and this place was like his sanctuary. It just makes sense."

Her fingertips brushed over the frayed ends of a coarse thick old rope.

_The rope wrapped around a neck. Pressure. Couldn't breathe. A slave boy kicking his legs uselessly as he dangled in the air. A young man hanging, limp and lifeless, his entire body caked with still fresh blood._

Dani pulled her fingers away from the rope and blinked back the onslaught of tears that were threatening to spill over her eyelids. She continued sliding her hand along the tabletop, her palm gently caressing the wooden handle of a very large butcher's knife.

_A tall thin man. Stringy thin mousy brown mustache beneath a long pointed nose. Soft hands with few calluses sharpening the large knife on a wet stone. Lustful thoughts of blood. Running a thumb over the knife. Feeling heat rise underneath the collar at the image of pale mutilated flesh. Feelings of such love and adoration for the sharpened metal. Elizabeth Wyatt's lovely young face, covered in blood and reduced to tears and screams for mercy. _

Dani snatched her hand away from the table and covered her mouth with it to keep herself from crying out. She never wanted to be inside that man's head again; never. Her stomach retched and for a moment she actually thought that she just might vomit. But she didn't. She gathered her wits and started to continue, when out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of something that struck her interest. As she drew closer and her eyes were able to make out what it was, she felt an involuntary gasp escape the confines of her throat.

"Hey, Sammy," Dean said.

"Hmm?" came Sam's reply.

"Is it me or does it seem too damn quiet in here?"

"I was just thinkin' the same thing." Sam said.

Dani was no more than a breath away from the object that had drawn her attention, now. It was a large metal cage. She debated with herself for a long moment before finally reaching out her hand to touch its rusted surface.

_Slamming. Clanking. The click of a lock snapping into place. Five year old Lilian Wyatt screaming for her mother from within the cage. The slender redheaded woman from the pantry, crouched on all fours, naked and bleeding from every visible part of her body. A young girl of about fifteen in a blood soaked knee length floral dress and ripped up fifties style letterman's sweater yanking at the cage bars with all her strength and screaming at the top of her lungs. A young brunette in ripped jeans and a pink scarf huddled in the corner with her knees pulled to her chest and her head down; her entire body trembling. _

Dani pulled her hand to her chest, batting her eyes against the tears that were threatening once again to overflow. The last girl…she used to come into the diner. She had known that girl. A shudder ran down the length of Dani's spine as an unbearable rage began to build up in the pit of her stomach. Her eyelids flew open wide and landed on the wall directly in front of her. Her long determined strides closed the distance in the beat of a heart and she pushed her palm flat against the stones. Something flared inside of her at the touch and slid a little further along the wall.

"How we doin' over there, Dani?" Dean called.

"Give me another second." Dani snapped, unaware of the harshness in her tone.

"Sure," Dean said dryly, "I got nothin' better to do."

And then there it was. The high pitched shrill that they had been waiting for. Wasting no time, the bastard swooped down going for Dani right away. Sam unloaded a single round and Tate shattered into the air as though it had never been there.

"That's my boy!" Dean cheered, spinning around, waiting for the next attack.

Another shriek rang through the room, but the damn thing didn't appear. Dani wasn't letting herself be distracted; focusing all of her energy into the task at hand; into her feelings; her instincts. Her hand slid across one stone and it felt as though a jolt of electricity had shot up through her arm and into her chest. She yelped and pulled her hand away. Then, with wide eyes, she touched the stone again. It felt like it was holding a lightening storm inside of it.

"Dean!" she cried, "It's this one! He's here! He's behind these stones!"

After one final sweep around the room, as the wailings were still bouncing off of every single surface, Dean trotted over to where Dani had her hands pressed against the offending stone and dropped the duffle bag to the ground at his feet.

"Cover me." He barked before dropping to his knees in front of the bag.

Dani cradled the gun with both hands as John had taught her to do and pointed it into the air, watching for any kind of disturbance. Sam appeared at her side, his weapon also pointed upward giving Dean extra protection. Dean rummaged through the green duffle bag, finally coming up with a crowbar. He leapt back to his feet and shrugged out of his heavy leather jacket, letting it fall to dirt floor before closing both fists around the crowbar. He quickly moved into a batter's stance and started swinging. As soon as the first blow hit the wall, the wailing magnified in volume by about ten decibels and the pale green rotting ghost appeared almost instantly. Dani fired and hit nothing. It was almost as if Tate's spirit had dodged the bullet. Sam cocked his gun and shot, hitting his mark dead on; buying them another moment of tension filled peace.

Dean swung again, chipping away a little more of the paved stone wall. Sam cleared the empty shells from his gun and crammed two more rounds in, cocking it straight afterward. There was another hollow sound reminiscent to that of nails on a chalkboard just before Sam's feet suddenly flew out from under him and he landed hard on his back. Letting herself be momentarily distracted, Dani grabbed him by the bicep and tried to help tug him back up to his feet. But the sickening glow appeared behind her and she was jerked backwards by her hair. Sam shifted to the side and pulled his trigger, and Dani fell forward to her knees as her hair was released. He had shot a little bit closer to her than he would have liked, but he had had no other options. He helped her back up to her feet with his hand at her elbow, but his eyes continued to roam the room.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Wonderful." She replied, "You?"

"Best day of my life."

Dean had dug the end of the crowbar into the wall and finally, with a loud growl escaping through his clenched teeth and a great strain of effort, he pulled the stone loose from the wall. It toppled heavily to the floor with a deafening crash, drawing the gazes of both Dani and Sam. Dean was panting erratically as he leaned against the wall and threw down the iron crowbar. Through the hole in the wall, they could clearly see the decaying remains of Tate Hughs. A smug grin crossed Dean's face as he pulled a canister of salt from his pocket and flipped it in his hand before turning once again toward the freshly made hole.

From out of nowhere and with no sound whatsoever, the greenish spirit flew at him. It caught him in the side and sent him flying across the room, crashing into one of the worktables that were covered with all sorts of frightening, sharp, skin puncturing devices.

"Shit!" Sam hisses, raising his gun, but Tate had already vanished. He pivoted around, trying to look everywhere at once while Dani rushed across the room to check on Dean.

She touched her hand to his neck, relieved to discover that he was still breathing. Casting nervous glances all around her; she started shaking him by the shoulders trying to jolt him back into consciousness.

"Is he alive?" Sam asked.

Dani nodded, "Yeah."

"Then don't worry about him right now. Get the salt. Let's get this over with." He replied.

Dani cast one more look at Dean's expressionless face before snatching the salt from his limp hand and running back toward the bones. She popped the canister open and emptied its contents into the hole. She had just picked up the lighter fluid when the screeching cry hit her ears with a force that almost made her lose her balance all together. Sam dropped to his knees beside her, his eyes involuntarily squinting against the harsh sound.

Half out of her mind, she opened her mouth wide and screamed back at the ghost in defiance. At the same time, she squeezed half of the bottle of lighter fluid over the remains that were buried in that wall. She stopped only when she watched as Sam's gun was ripped from his hands. She spun around just in time to see the pale glowing spirit pull his feet out from under him again and start to drag him across the floor. Sam managed to catch his fingers onto the crowbar that Dean had been using to knock through the wall. Iron; a spirit repellent; almost just as good as rock salt. He swung the iron rod at the spirit's so-called head and it exploded out of sight. He had barely had the time to get back up on his feet when, with another spine cringing screech, the son of a bitch was back. It caught him by the ankles and Sam went down, a grunt escaping him as he landed on his stomach. The impact knocked the wind out of him and caused him to lose his grip on the crowbar as he was once again dragged across the ground, his fingers digging and clawing at the dirt in desperation which did no good. He was flung inside of the cage that Dani had touched earlier, just before the door slammed down shut and locked into place. She dropped the lighter fluid and sprinted over to the cage, dropping to her knees and trying to figure out how to unlock it.

"No! No!" Sam screamed at her, "Go finish it! Light the bones on fire!"

"I don't have a lighter!" Dani shouted back.

Sam checked all of his pockets, then his eyes darted over to where Dean was still lying on the broken worktable, then back over to the duffle bag; or more accurately, the brown leather coat lying in a puddle beside it. He pointed through the bars, "Go check Dean's jacket!"

Without hesitation, Dani leapt to her feet and raced over to the duffle bag. She hit her knees again as her hands began fumbling through the folds of the soft worn leather. "Damn it! It isn't here!" she called, looking up at Sam, who could only flash her a helpless look accompanied by a slight shake of his head.

She muttered another swear word under her breath before her eyes landed on Dean's still form. She sprang to her feet again and rushed for him, dropping down and baseball sliding up beside his very unconscious body. Digging her fingers into the confines of his blue jean pockets, she began patting him down in search of a lighter, a match, a stick and some dry grass! Anything she could rub together and get a spark! He stirred slightly at her touch, his head tilting to the side and a small gravely moan coming from the depths of his throat.

"Where's you lighter, Dean?" she asked. He stirred again and his eyelids twitched as though he were trying to open them. "Where's your lighter?" she asked again, not expecting an answer. Just as the words left her mouth, she felt something metal brush against her fingertips. Dean's Zippo! "Yes!"

"Dani!" Sam suddenly screamed, but the warning came too late.

She had barely glanced in his direction as the stiff, rough, ancient rope tangled around her neck and ripped her flailing body from her knees up into the air. The Zippo fell from her hands as she reached up to grasp at the noose that was now strangling her.

"Dani!" Sam cried out from inside the cage, shaking the bars with both hands in anger.

Dani kicked and twisted, her fingers tugging at the rope around her neck so hard that their tips were already turning raw and starting to bleed. Looking down, she found herself dangling just over the wooden slab that she had been bolted to previously. She stretched her legs as far as they would go, but she just couldn't seem to get her toes to meet the edge. Coughing, she reached for the line above her head, hoping to pull herself up just a little if it meant that it would relieve even the tiniest bit of pressure from her throat.

All at once it seemed, the snarling, sickening green, decaying face was in front of her again. It bared it pointed teeth at her and she began struggling even harder against the noose, her body jerking spastically back and forth. The lack of air had already started to make her lightheaded and her fighting was becoming weaker and weaker with every passing second. The ghost let out another shrill whine from somewhere deep inside of it and Dani screamed. Her shirt slowly slid upward and the neatly done up bandages were ripped painfully from her torso. Every wound on her stomach seemed to magically reopen all at the same time, letting blood stream steadily down her abdomen and onto her now barely kicking legs.

Her vision started to blur around the edges; her peripheral vision going fuzzy so all that she could see now was the horrible monster in front of her. Was this how all of his victims had felt before they died? Probably not. She had the strangest feeling that compared to what he had put them through, she was getting off easy. Gurgling sounds were coming involuntarily from her throat and her eyelids were beginning to feel extremely heavy. She didn't think she would be fighting for very much longer.

"Hey, asshole!" a gruff masculine voice rang out through the haze, "Need a light?"

Dani turned her face away from the spirit; focusing her sight to the side instead, just in time to watch Dean toss the lit Zippo into the hole and the bones of Tate Hughs go up in flames. The ghost in front of her did the same, bursting into bright red and crumbling away into ash right before her eyes. It let out another high pitched scream as it burned; only this one was shrill enough to turn the blood running through your veins into ice water.

The sight was a welcome one, but it didn't relieve her need for oxygen. She let out another strange rasping sound just as Dean came rushing toward the table, flipping open a butterfly knife as he leapt onto it, using the metal clamps as footholds. He flipped the knife in his hand so that he was holding the blade and offering the handle up to her. Once her fingers caught hold of it, he leapt back down to the ground and looked up at her.

"This is gonna hurt." He warned just as she was slicing into the rope.

She dropped from the air, one of her ankles crashing into the edge of the torture table along the way, and only to land directly on top of Dean. Coughing and sputtering, she clung to him as he helped her to sit up. He quickly removed the rope from her neck, pulling it up over her head and casting it off to the side. She looked him in the eyes, her chest heaving as she struggled to catch her breath.

"Thanks…for…breaking my fall." She rasped, the corners of her mouth tipping upward just the slightest bit.

He laughed and climbed to his feet, pulling her up along with him. She cried out and doubled over, clutching her arm to her freshly injured abdomen. Dean rubbed a hand comfortingly over her back as his eyes scanned the room until they fell on something that they approved of. He gave Dani's shoulder a gentle squeeze and left her side. She staggered over to the duffle bag and dropped down beside it, waving weakly at Sam who was still locked inside of the cage.

He looked back at her with his round puppy dog eyes, leaning his forehead against one of the metal bars, "Are you all right?"

It hurt too much to speak, so she just smiled and gave him a thumbs up. Just then, Dean came strutting back into her line of sight, carrying an axe. He strolled over toward Sam, who scrambled to the back of the cage as Dean prepared to swing. He gave one mighty chop, which was accompanied by an immediate 'clang' as a chunk of metal flew away from the cage and bounced off the wall. Dean threw the axe aside, reached down, and lifted the cage door. He didn't like the sight of his little brother locked up. It made him think back to the time that those damned redneck freaks from hell had kidnapped him for a nice little _Deliverance _style hunt. People. Crazy. Sam crawled out of the cage and straightened to his full height. He looked around the cellar, then focused sharply on his brother.

"You and cages, man," Dean chirped, "what's up with that?"

"I don't know." Sam said, "Let's get the hell outta here."

Dean nodded and clapped him on the shoulder, "Amen to that, brother."

Dean retrieved Dani's handgun from beside the cage and the shotgun that Sam had been stripped of and stuffed them into the duffle bag along with the one he had dropped when he had gone to work on the wall. Sam took the bag from Dean's hands and slung it over his shoulder as Dean helped Dani to her feet.

"So," Dean started, "how does the house feel now?"

Dani closed her eyes, let her head drop back, and inhaled deeply through her nose. Then she tilted her head back up and opened her eyes. A Cheshire cat grin spreading across her lips, she answered, "Well, I wouldn't wanna live here."

Each of them chuckled to the best of their ability as they headed up the stairs, which still creaked and seemed shaky and unsafe. Dean had his arm securely around Dani's back, carrying most of her weight for her in the fear that she still might pass out; and taking those stairs two people at a time was no small feat. They made it back up to the kitchen and Dani risked a glance over her shoulder at the doorway. Somehow, it didn't seem so black anymore. The thought made her smile, but it didn't make her want to pause to take anything in; she wanted out of that house.

Sam stepped aside and let Dani and Dean duck through the unhinged doorway ahead of him. Slowly and steadily, they made it out the front door. As Dean helped Dani down the steps of the front porch, Sam took a moment and looked back into the foyer. Katherine stood halfway up the stairs with a bright, warm smile on her face. She waved her tiny hand at him and then faded away into the darkness, almost as though she had evaporated…or never been there at all. Sam smiled at the now empty staircase before turning his back and trotting down the steps.

"Goodbye, Katherine." He said to no one before breaking into a jog to catch up with his companions.

They each slowly climbed over the fence after Dean spent a full two minutes threatening to just cut the damned thing down and trudged the rest of the way back to the Impala. Sam tossed the duffle bag into the trunk as Dean eased Dani into the backseat. Once the engine had roared to life and they were on their way down the road, Dani let out a long sigh of relief; allowing relaxation to settle over her battered body. It was over. It was really, truly, finally over.

**Author's Note: **Well, nothing left now but the epilogue. Shouldn't be too long. Don't forget to review!!!


	10. Epilogue

**Author's Note: **Okay, there is no excuse for putting off an update for this long except that I have been super busy with my thesis. Please forgive. Anyways, on to the story!!!

**Epilogue:**

The morning after the grand fight, with fresh clean bandages and the discovery that she was yet again rendered with the inability to move, Dani called in sick to work once again…and was promptly fired by her asshole of a boss. It was all okay though, because Sam made French toast for breakfast and it was simply delicious…though it could have been the multitude of painkillers that Dean had given her that were putting her in such a carefree mood. She didn't really know; didn't really care.

The guys stayed with her a couple more days, waiting until she was mobile enough to actually function before packing up their stuff and preparing to say goodbye. Sam had even gone to pick up her last paycheck for her. She walked with them to their car on the morning that they left, wearing bright blue rain boots pulled up over the legs of her red sweatpants and a long sleeved tee shirt that she had somehow managed to steal from Dean, she looked ridiculous. She hugged her arms tightly to herself in attempt to ward off the winter chill. Sam threw his bag into the backseat and turned to face her.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye." He said.

"Guess so." She replied, a sad smile on her face.

"You gonna be okay here by yourself?" Sam asked.

"Awe, yeah. I'm tough." Dani joked, "Plus, Liv is on her way over even as we speak."

"Well, there you go." Sam laughed, "Better than a pit-bull, that one."

They stood there in silence for a long moment until a tear slid down Dani's cheek and she laughed and spread her arms out wide. "Oh, give me a hug already before I completely break down and look like a fool." She cried.

"In that getup, you already look like a fool." Sam chuckled as he leaned down and pulled her to him in a tight hug, giving her a gentle squeeze before he released her. "We'll see you again." He said.

"You better." Dani warned, her face serious.

Sam gave her another quick hug then slid into the car and shut the door. Dani turned and walked back to where Dean was propped against the trunk with his hands shoved deep in his coat pockets. She sidled up beside him and mirrored his stance, leaning back casually against the hood of the trunk, her hip pressed against his. He gave her a sideways look, which she also imitated right back at him; forcing him to break into a grin. He straightened from the car and wrapped his arms around her neck, pulling her snugly against his chest. Her hands twisted into the soft leather at the back of his jacket and she buried her face in his chest, inhaling his clean, warm scent. His hands dropped down, resting in between her shoulders and he gave her an affectionate squeeze as he pressed his lips to her hairline for a long drawn out moment, breathing in the sweet honey smell of her shampoo.

"You take care of yourself, kitten, you hear me." He said into her hair.

Dani chuckled at the nickname and responded the only way she could think to, "Meow."

"All right," he said, giving her another squeeze and then pulling himself away from her, "we gotta hit the road. We'll be in touch."

Dani nodded, crossing her arms over herself again as she adjusted to the loss of the warmth of his body. Dean didn't look at her as he turned away and walked to his door, and it was almost unbearable to see no more than his broad back retreating from her. So, she fell into step behind him. Once he was in his seat, she knelt down in the open door and peered in at the both of them, making sure to lock eyes with Dean. She wanted to see those amazing hazel depths just one last time.

"You boys be careful out there." She said with a grin.

She didn't wait for a reply; she had what it was that she had wanted, so she stood up and walked away from the car. She headed straight back for the apartment, not wanting to stand there and watch them drive away. It was too pathetic. As she reached the top of the first flight of stairs, she heard the familiar grumble followed immediately by the squeal of tires on pavement as Dean no doubt peeled away from the curb. Shaking her head and laughing quietly to herself, she reentered her apartment.

Dean shifted gears, then reached over and turned down the volume of the Blue Oyster Cult song that had been blasting at an ungodly level from the speakers. He glanced at Sam, who had a newspaper on one knee and an open road atlas on the other.

"What you got for us, Sammy?" he asked.

"Well, there's a couple a missing campers down in Kentucky. With the lunar cycle, could be worth looking into." Sam said, his eyes glazing over the paper, "There was a guy found in his locked apartment, dead, missing his eyes and tongue…"

Dean was nodding as he downshifted and slowed to a stop as they came to a stop sign. Sam stopped talking and looked up at the road. They sat there, not speaking, silent other than the steady idling of the engine. Slowly, they both turned to face each other, then burst into laughter.

"Nah!" they said in unison.

"I mean," Dean said, "it's not like we could ever get her to agree to it."

"The notion alone is ridiculous." Sam chuckled.

"Yeah."

"But, you know, having a psychic along with us…an experienced one not directly correlating to the yellow eyes demon, I mean…"

"Could definitely come in handy."

"But, she'd never go for it."

"Not in a million years."

"So, where're we goin'?"

Dani sat curled up on her sofa. The apartment suddenly felt so empty. Amazing what a week of living with two guys could do to a girl. She yawned and kept flipping t.v. stations back and forth between _Law and Order: SVU _and _Grey's Anatomy_. She hoped Liv would get there soon. She was bored out of her head and to be perfectly honest, she hadn't expected her friend to take this long getting to her apartment. She had spent practically the entire morning after the incident at the Wyatt house on the phone with Liv, listening to her go on and on about how insane it had been for her to stay behind in that house and how she had been knowingly putting herself in danger…she had halfway expected Liv to bust down her door to give her the live show. So, what the hell was taking her so long? As if on cue, a gentle knocking at the door came breaking into her thoughts.

"It's about time." She muttered under her breath, hopping up and trotting over to the door. She swung it open with her hand on her hip, "What took you so…"

"Okay, so here are the reasons that you don't wanna stay in this town." Dean said, cutting her off mid sentence, "One: there isn't anything really all that great around here."

"Except for Liv." Sam said from over his brother's shoulder.

"True," Dean acknowledged, "Liv is pretty hot. But, I doubt she has our sparkling sense of humor."

"Or adventure." Sam added.

"Two:" Dean continued, "there's a lot of bad around here for you."

Sam nodded, "Yeah, like that psycho guy…Freddie."

"Eddie." Dani corrected.

"Whatever!" Dean countered, "The point of the statement, the guy's nuts."

"And three:" Sam chimed, "we already got you fired from your job, so that's out of the way!"

"Wait." Dani said, trying to absorb everything that was being said to her.

"So, you may as well tag along with us." Dean grinned.

Dani took a moment to simply stare at them. Actually, she took the moment to stare at them like they were two of the craziest men she had ever met in her life; which was exactly what they were.

"You want me to come with you?" she asked.

"Yeah." The brothers said at the same time.

"To go driving across the country with you…hunting ghosts and boogiemen of various shapes and sizes?" she continued.

They nodded simultaneously.

Dani felt herself breaking into a smile, "Guys…in case you haven't noticed, I'm a bit of a coward."

"Ah, you're brave enough when it counts." Dean said, charming half smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Guys!" Dani exclaimed, "I can't just drop everything and go traipsing across country with you two!"

"As we already pointed out in our very organized list of reasons, from what we've seen of this town," Sam said, his voice the epitome of logic and rationality, "there isn't a whole lot here for you to drop."

Dani regarded them both with a sideways look. She didn't know what else to do, so she stepped to the side giving up enough room to let them enter the apartment. She hadn't even gotten the door fully closed before Liv came bounding into the apartment. She paused just inside the doorway when she spotted Dean lounging on the couch. He grinned and waved at her.

"I thought you guys were gone." The brunette said shrugging out of her faux fur lined jacket; then she saw the stunned look on Dani's face, "What's wrong with you?"

A week later, Dani handed her apartment keys to her rude, overweight, balding landlord. When she told him at the beginning of the week that she would be moving out, he had refused to give her back her security deposit. She smiled brightly at him. Last night, Dean had taken a sledge hammer to the drywall in the bathroom while she sat on the sink painting her toenails. All of her stuff had been sold, leaving her with a rather large wad of cash. Everything other than her grandmother's antique coffee table; Liv was keeping that at her place for her. She stood on the sidewalk in front of her now former apartment building with a large athletic bag stuffed to capacity at her feet. Liv stood beside her, trying her best not to cry.

"I can't believe you're actually leaving." Liv said, tugging on the long red scarf that was wrapped around Dani's neck.

Dani smiled sadly at her friend; taking a mental picture. She always looked like a supermodel. She belonged on a New York runway, not in this rinky-dink town. She wore a pair of skintight straight leg jeans tucked into a pair of knee high velvet four inch stiletto boots, a short waist puffy ski jacket with a black scarf and gold hoop earrings playing peek-a-boo from behind her flat iron straightened dark hair. And, Dani could tell that she was trying not to cry, but her mascara was already starting to run down her cheeks.

"It's not like I'll never be back, Liv." Dani said.

"But, you were like, the one cool person in this town." Liv stated, "Everyone else here sucks."

Now, the tears came from Dani's eyes. She tried to blink them back, tried to distract herself from it by unbuttoning and re-buttoning her heavy black pea coat, but to no avail; she started to cry. Dani reached over and caught hold of the puffy sleeves of Liv's jacket.

"Promise me you'll call me everyday." She demanded, her voice cracking.

Liv pulled her friend into a hug and replied, "Sometimes twice."

"Every hour on the hour?" Dani pushed with a laugh.

Liv laughed as well, wiping a gloved hand under her eye, "Right up to the day they cut my cell phone off cause I can't pay my bill."

The Impala pulled up and came to a stop at the curb. Sam and Dean both climbed out of the car, leaving the engine running.

"Hey, Liv." Sam said, grabbing Dani's bag up off of the ground and tossing it into the back floorboard.

"How's it goin'?" Dean asked.

"I don't like you." Liv hissed.

"Good to see you, too." Dean said, casting Dani a sideways glance with one cocked eyebrow.

"Sorry," Liv said, "I'm just bitter."

"Yeah, I know." Dean grinned, "We'll see you again, though."

"Count on it, pretty boy." Liv replied.

Dean chuckled at the brunette, then reached over and rubbed his hand over the back of Dani's neck. "We gotta get goin', kitten."

"I know." Dani sighed.

"We'll see you later, Liv." Dean said, giving her a one armed hug before walking around the front of the car and sliding into the driver's seat.

"Yeah," Sam said, pulling Liv into a hug, "glad we got to give you a proper goodbye."

"You call that a proper goodbye?" Liv laughed. She reached up, cupped his face in her hands, and pulled him down into a nice long kiss. Sam's eyes widened in surprise at first, but about two seconds later, he was kissing her back. Dani had to press her lips into a tight flat line in order to keep from laughing out loud. When Liv finally broke the kiss, Sam had a kind of stupid wonder look covering his handsome features. He licked his lips and took a wobbly step back; opening and closing his mouth several times.

"Okay," he croaked, "Yeah."

With that, he turned and got into the passenger seat beside Dean, who the girls could see was laughing his ass off. Dani crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows expectantly at her friend.

"Okay," Liv said, "you have _got _to bring the tall one back again."

"They're both tall." Dani deadpanned.

"The taller one."

"What am I gonna do without you?" Dani giggled.

"You?" Liv said incredulously, "What about me? At least you'll have cute and cuter with you! What have I got? Janie and…dear God save me…Todd!"

Dani shook her head and wrapped her arms around her friend one last time, just as Sam's window rolled down.

"Kitten!" Dean shouted, "Move your ass!"

The two girls broke apart and Dani rolled her eyes before saying, "Call me."

"You know I will." Liv said, "Bye, Dani."

"I'll see you, later." Dani said, then she turned around and climbed into the backseat of the car.

Dani waved again through the window as she watched Liv getting smaller and smaller as the black '67 Chevy Impala pulled away from the curb and on down the road. Then, she turned ahead in her seat and gazed up at the brothers in front of her as AC/DC came pouring from the radio. She lay her head back against the seat and closed her eyes as the question floated through her mind that seemed to have been ever present since she met up with the Winchester boys…what the hell had she gotten herself into now?

**Author's Note: **Well, that's it. If you liked it, let me know and stay tuned for a possible sequel. That really depends on the feedback that I get about this story, though. Thanks!!!


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